


JuLance 2020

by the_forgotten_daydreamer



Series: Voltron: Legendary Defender [16]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: "Loverboy Lance", Anxious Hunk (Voltron), Anxious Lance (Voltron), Barista Lance, Beach Episode, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bromance, Brotp, Bullying, Caring Lance, Caring team, Caring team Voltron, Crying Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Fainting, Family, Fever, Feverish Lance, Found Family, Galaxy Garrison, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Guitar, Heartbreak, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Hunk knows how to surf, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), JuLance, Julance 2020, Julance2020, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Lance (Voltron) Has Self-Esteem Issues, Lance (Voltron) Whump, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance and Blue Lion, Lance faints, Lance has self-trust issues, Lance passes out, Langst, M/M, Merman Lance, Monsters & Mana (Voltron), Paladin Lance, Passed out Lance, Passing Out, Poison, Sad Lance (Voltron), Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Server!Lance, Sick Lance (Voltron), Space Explorer Lance, Surfing, Team as Family, The team cares for Lance, Volleyball, Vomiting, Whump, anxiety medication, blue paladin lance, found family trope, homesick Lance, lance cries, lance has a fever, red paladin lance, supportive team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 43,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25013545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_forgotten_daydreamer/pseuds/the_forgotten_daydreamer
Summary: Thirty-one Lance-centric fics (prompts created by@fauxghoston Tumblr) in honour of Lance's birthday month. Trigger warnings (ships included) can be found at the beginning of each chapter. Enjoy!
Relationships: Lance & Blue Lion (Voltron), Lance & Red Lion (Voltron), Lance & Voltron: Legendary Defender Team
Series: Voltron: Legendary Defender [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680511
Comments: 215
Kudos: 299





	1. 《Blue》

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own "Voltron: Legendary Defender" nor these characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

Blue hadn’t always been Lance’s favourite color. When he was a child, he used to collect white shells on the beach, only to bring them back home, pierce them and run a fine thread in the holes, making necklaces for his friends and family. He loved the color white. White as the sand of Varadero Beach on which he ran back and forth, white as the seafoam he swam in, white as the clouds he’d fantasized to sleep onto, white as the Moon he’d dreamt to explore, hand reaching for it as he laid on the beach at night, fingers seemingly brushing the bright surface of that shiny orb, so delicate and fascinating to a little child. 

_ “I’m going to be an astronaut, you know? I’m going to reach the stars and I’ll bring you little white pebbles from the Moon! Like- like the necklaces I give you every time, but better!”  _ Lance used to say, grinning with a toothless smile as his mother smoothed his chocolate hair back, cradling the child in her lap.

_ “And you’ll make a necklace with Moon pebbles too?” _

_ “Yes! The- the specialiest Moon-pebble-necklace for mamá”. _

And his mother used to laugh, kissing her precious child on the forehead, hugging him closer,  _ “The ‘specialiest’, mh? I can’t wait, mijo”. _

He’d dreamt of his feet hitting the white lunar surface every night, as he stood proud, a knight in a shiny white armor, so pure and sparkling, enhanced by the little pearls around it, lighting the cosmos.

But one day, the white was taken away from Lance. One day, his biggest dream was taken away from him. His white had died. Fate had decided that he was doomed to Earth, that reaching that white was impossible. And Lance’s world crumbled, shattered to pieces with those ten letters plastered before his eyes. Cargo pilot. Cargo. Pilot.

He was never going to see the stars, was he? He was never going to reach for that white wish, he was never going to touch the Moon with his own hands. Lance was doomed to Earth.

And as his dreams got taken away from him, the desire for white died. He hadn’t made it. He had failed at his one-time opportunity. He was doomed to Earth, doomed to the little white things that could not compare to the stars and the Moon.

And he hated it. He hated that white now. He hated it all- the white Moon he couldn’t reach, and the white stars, the white seafoam and sand, the shells… All of it. Everything white reminded him of his broken dream, of how he’d failed, of how he was never going to be happy.

Cargo pilots mostly travelled to nearby planets without getting the chance to see them, simply dropping off the goods and taking off to Earth again, never staying away from home for more than half a day. And Lance loved his home, but he also loved to explore, and his only chance had just been taken away. Forever.

So, whenever he could, he gazed at the sky during the day, avoiding the stars and the Moon, shying away from the sun, simply staring at the so familiar blue reflected in his electric blue eyes, of which his mother was so proud of.

Maybe blue wasn’t a bad color after all… Maybe  _ blue _ was his destiny.

And it turned out, it was.

When he found the Blue Lion, he realized that blue had been his destiny all along. If he’d longed for white more, he would have never met his friends, never met his hero, never met his rival from so close, and he would have never met Blue. Blue, she understood him. Lance felt like he’d piloted Blue since he was born, like she was his best friend, like they were meant to be together. And they were.

With Blue, he could reach for the stars and leap far beyond the Moon, explore spaces that no human had ever seen or even only thought of. 

Lance could feel, he could finally feel again.

He could feel the warmth of something in his chest, that once-white spark burning bright, only that it was blue now, an intense flame spreading across his soul, making him whole again.

“Good girl...” he always said. Blue, she really was a good girl.

And whenever he complimented her like one would do with their partner, Blue purred softly under his hand patting the mechanical beast, his other half. 

His teammates found it funny that Lance  _ talked  _ to his Lion, but he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t just think what he needed to say- he needed to word those feelings out loud, to let them be heard, starting to slowly fill the void that the death of his white sparkle had left. Because Blue was better than anything white that Lance could have ever had.

Better than the tiny shells, better than the seafoam and the sand, better than the clouds, better than the stars and the Moon he could have touched. Blue was made of stars. She was made of stars and cosmic dust, she was part of everything, she was whole and made Lance feel the same- much more than what he believed possible. 

Now, that kid staring at those ten cursed words was no more, that kid trying to grip to the white sparkle was gone, that kid filled with rage and despair as the sparkle faded and slipped did not exist anymore. Lance had found Blue, and the sensation of emptiness and void had been filled to the brim with ocean waves. He felt like his soul had never been brighter than that. And it was burning blue.

When the team was sent to a planet that resembled the Moon in the Solar System- it was inhabited, but the scenario was similar, almost identical to their Moon’s- Lance’s breath stopped, eyes wide in disbelief as he got off his Lion and placed one foot on the white surface.

He made it. He finally made it.

“Lance, what's up?” Shiro asked worriedly, tapping his shoulder as he noticed the absent look in his teammate's eyes.

The Blue Paladin gulped, gripping at his chest shakily as he crouched down, hands brushing the surface as Shiro fretted behind him, crouching too and not understanding what was going on.

“Lance, hey, are you feeling sick? Talk to me-”

“This... This is a Moon pebble. A white, Moon pebble. Shiro, look.” he spoke softly, showing the little rock in his hands, “Can I take it with me?”.

Shiro eyed him in concern, but nodded.

“Yeah, sure. But, why?”

“I… I promised my mother that I’d…”. No, he was not going to get emotional in front of Shiro because of a literal pebble. Blue purred incessantly in his mind.  _ His  _ Blue.

Maybe he could paint this pebble blue. Or maybe he could leave it white. But he’d made it, Lance had made it to the Moon, he’d touched the white with his own hands like he used to dream, he'd made his dream come true. And even if his soul was burning blue now, sparkles of white danced around the flames, and he was finally, really, sincerely whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that with "Blue" the person that made the prompt probably meant the Lion, but I wanted to try something else, and I think it's quite different from what I usually write. I hope it's okay!  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	2. 《Garrison》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

"Alright mijo, say cheese!"

"Mamá, no, this is embarrassing-"

"Hey, don't let down an old woman" Beatriz McClain pouted, and her youngest son sighed, putting on the most sincere and happy smile he could muster.

And Beatriz took the picture, admiring it as it popped on her phone's screen. Lance looked incredibly mature in his new Garrison uniform, standing in front of the main building on his first day, posing for that commemorative photo as his soon-to-be colleagues passed by, snickering and staring at him in amusement as he blushed.

"You're so handsome," she commented as Lance arrived next to her to look at the picture too, "I'm the luckiest mother in the world"

"Well, what would your other four kids say?" 

"Don't be silly, I told them all they are beautiful too. You are my children, after all, and genetics don't lie".

And that actually made Lance laugh, alleviating the tension that had made his guts cramp up since the previous night. He had really made it into the Galaxy Garrison, the most prestigious flight school in the States. And he had done it by himself, he'd studied hard and fought for that place. He felt like the happiest fourteen year-old in the universe now.

"In two years, I'll be chosen to be a Fighter pilot," he stated as he looked at the sky, confident, "I'll try my best to ace my tests and show them that I'm worth it. They'll see I was born to be one of them. I promise you, mamá"

"I know you will, mijo, I know you will," Beatriz sniffled, hugging her son tightly, standing on her toes, "I can't believe that you are so grown up already, my heart breaks. Mi niño, mi niño precioso…".

Lance's ocean eyes sparkled, but he'd promised himself not to cry, and he was a man of word.

"Don't worry, I'll visit you whenever I can. And I still have my phone, we can call each other every night, okay? Just… Don't be sad, mamá" he reassured, letting his knees bend and his head fall on his mother's shoulder.

The woman let go, smiling brightly as she dried the tears on her wrinkled face.

"Just promise me that you'll be safe, and that you'll ask Veronica if you need help"

"Huh, that's nepotism and I do not condone it, but I'll be sure to stay out of trouble." he grinned, "I'll make plenty of friends and one day I'll have them come over to our home in Varadero, how does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect to me, mijo".

And with a final kiss on the forehead, Beatriz let her son go, watching him as he stepped inside the building for his first day at the Garrison, the first day of many more to come, hopefully.

Lance looked so little compared to that building, as he carried his luggage headed for the room- Beatriz prayed that his roommate would be caring and fun, a good friend for her precious child.

"Be great, my dear Lance".

-

Lance's eyes rolled down the list, frantically trying to find the name of his roommate, and the number of the room itself. There were many people, and the place was crowded, but he didn't expect any less. It was everyone's first day, and he didn't blame the people that were crying, probably homesick already, nor the people that were already chatting loudly with the others, quickly getting adjusted to the new environment.

Lance was a bit jealous. But he didn't let that distract him. 

"McClain, McClain, mmh..." he chanted under his breath as he looked for his name.

However, something- someone- caught his attention. Another cadet, taller than him but probably just as old. And he looked _terrified_.

Lance's heart squeezed. Unlike the ones that were crying, this guy didn't shed a tear, but his sturdy figure was visibly trembling, knees looking as they were about to buckle, dark complexion uncomfortably ashen. Before he knew it, Lance was next to the kid- and he halted on his tracks, unsure on what to do.

"Hey, huh," he swallowed, "are you okay?".

The guy seemed shocked as he looked behind his own back, and then pointed at himself, "Me?".

A nod. Maybe Lance had misread the situation, maybe-

"I'm- I'm looking for my name b-but I can't find it here, and- maybe I got the info wrong, maybe I- I wasn't really admitted, ma-maybe I'm not supposed to be here!"

"Hey, chill. We can, I don't know, look together? I'm trying to find my name too, but with all these people it's pretty hard!" he grinned, "how about you look for my name and I look for yours? Is that alright?".

And the guy nodded, "Th-thank you so much, really..."

"No problem. Oh, I'm Lance Alejandro Rodríguez-McClain, but you can call me just Lance." he said while offering his hand.

"My name's Tsuyoshi Garrett, but my friends used to call me Hunk..." the guy- Hunk- muttered shily, and the two shook hands.

"Hunk, huh? Pretty cool. Now, let's find our names, come on!".

-

Destiny had its way, they realized, when they discovered that they had been paired to be roommates. 

Lance had all but thrown himself inside the room, clumsily throwing the luggage inside as he climbed the ladder and immediately claimed the top bunk, flopping onto the mattress. Hunk didn't complain.

"I don't really like heights…"

"You're literally in a flight school, dude"

"Yeah, as an engineer!" he exhaled, placing his luggage on the floor and closing the door behind his back, "I don't have to look outside the window, I leave that to the pilot. I just take care of the gearbox and wait." he explained, "Or, that's what I'll do when I finish my specialisation in the next two years".

Lance hummed. He wasn't very good at anything mechanic-related, and he only knew the basics: mechanical and electrical engineering played a minor role in his degree, but he still would have had to get good grades in those subjects if he wanted to be in the élite and become a Fighter pilot.

"And… What do you want to be?"

"Mh?"

"Like, do you want to, huh, become a specific kind of pilot or..?".

Lance's smile brightened as he let his head hang down the bed, hoovering before Hunk's as he sat on the bottom bunk, "I'd love to become a Fighter pilot. That's why I came here, 'cause it's been my dream since I was a little kid. Flying through the clouds at an impossibly high speed… I can't think of anything more exciting and fulfilling than that".

The trainee engineer hummed, "I don't think we'll ever fly together, my specialisation is mostly indicated for people working on cargo vehicles, though some choose to become part of Fighter crews. I mean, I don't know if- if I have the stomach for that but, like, we can still… Uhm…".

Lance raised an eyebrow, "Huh, _We can still_ what?".

Hunk averted his gaze, "Maybe we could, huh, be friends..? If- if you want...".

Lance grinned, a warm smile on his gentle face. 

"Gladly!".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> decided to post this one hour before the start of July 2nd because why not.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	3. 《Loverboy》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ hinted Klance

" _ Loverboy Lance.. _ ? It's perfect because it's true" the ex Blue Paladin grinned, a hand on his boney hips as he eyed his friends.

In his defense, Lance loved making the others feel special. He couldn't explain to himself why, but flirting and complementing the others made him feel happy, finally  _ useful _ to someone. Though, not everybody seemed to appreciate it. And maybe, Loverboy was not all he was.

-

"Lance, if you could stop hitting on every breathing being, that would be great." Pidge commented, rolling their eyes as they typed on their computer, Lance sitting on the couch opposite to his teammate as he held an ice pack to his cheek.

"I just told that alien they could call Voltron in case of need, and I winked, only winked! Is that a thing people usually get punched for!? Seriously, what the hell." he mumbled, "people just don't appreciate kindness these days..."

"Dude, I love you and all, but you seriously need to reconsider your methods" 

"What, me? I was simply being nice. Really, I was doing my job as a Paladin of Voltron!"

"So you were not flirting?" Pidge asked, raising their eyes and shutting their laptop.

Lance shook his head, "I swear on my mom's name I was not. I was really only being kind…".

Pidge felt a pang of guilt. Their teammate looked sincere, maybe the alien had really overreacted. They sat next to Lance, fiddling with their hands, "Maybe the Loverboy persona is doing you more harm than good, Lance."

"Well, I am a Loverboy, but in this case I was just being a decent person…" he muttered, looking away, "you know, I've had many partners-"

"Partners?"

"Don't be noisey, Pidgeon. I've had many partners, like, we didn't do serious stuff, just dates and kissing… And I liked them all. Not- not at the same time, I mean, but they mostly came to me. I rarely made the first move" Lance explained, and Pidge hummed.

"So the Loverboy Lance thing is not entirely your fault?" they asked.

Lance brought a hand up to his chin, holding it, "Well, I  _ am _ handsome, so maybe it's my fault too- ouch, hey!" he grinned as he rubbed the arm in which Pidge had just elbowed him.

"What I was saying is that, you know, I don't say no to not-creepy flirts, but… I usually get blamed when people hit on me first. It doesn't matter if I say yes or no, I smile and people think  _ I _ am making the first move only because I want to, you know,  _ get it. _ " he breathed out, shakily, as Pidge kept listening in silence. 

"I know I screw up sometimes, that maybe I am too blatant in my actions and that it makes me look annoying. Maybe… Maybe I am annoying- ouch! What was this one for!?".

Pidge's eyebrows furrowed in anger, "You are not annoying, idiot. Don't say it again."

"Okay, okay, geez, sorry. But, yeah, you get what I'm saying" he finished, gaze low.

"I-"

In that instant, the door slid open, and the others walked in the couch area.

"So, Lance, how are you?" Coran chirped out, "is your face intact?"

"That's his fault for being a flirty jerk with the wrong people." Keith commented, stern.

"I'm fine, thanks Coran. Oh, and Keith, go to hell, thanks." Lance retorted, and Shiro scowlded the two paladins, crossing his arms. 

"Seriously dude, is your face alright?" Hunk fretted, and Allura nodded along.

"Yeah, that punch looked pretty strong, it must have hurt".

Lance only waved his hand, "Nothing I can't handle, seriously, it barely bruised..." he said, and took the ice pack away to show the reddened cheek. His friends- minus Keith- sighed in relief.

"We shall leave again, then. We only came to make sure you were fine, and that Pidge was still not completely immersed in their work." Allura smiled, looking at Pidge who was typing furiously, though they raised their gaze one second to acknowledge the others.

"Aw, Keith came too? I'm  _ flattered _ ."

"Whatever,  _ Loverboy.  _ Don't mess up again." the half Galra murmured, and left, shortly followed by the others.

And Lance sighed, looking at Pidge again.

"See? Even when I don't do anything, I still get blamed…" he commented.

Pidge shut their laptop again, and Lance swore he saw worry in those hazel eyes.

"Lance, can I ask you something?".

He shrugged.

"Did you ever flirt with anyone on the ship besides Allura?".

Lance was taken aback, and he was sure it was clear when he stuttered, genuinely confused.

"Flirted as in been kind or-?"

"No, no, I mean  _ willingly _ flirted." Pidge explained. 

Lance snorted, "No. Yes. Well, I don't know. I tried? But, huh, it didn't work as I'd hoped, so I dropped it..." he hurried, eyes darting from one side of the room to the other, "I'm a Loverboy, I'm plenty of fans! I- I don't even  _ need _ to flirt, people come to me on their own! In fact, I am not worried in the slightest, as it's  _ plenty _ of people that flirt with me outside this team".

Okay, he was panicking. He was full-on panicking now.

"Lance-"

"I mean, even if he didn't notice me-? I am not worried about him, I'm over this. It was just a crush, just a crush! Yeah, I flirt a lot, and he was so stupid that he didn't get it, so what, I made new friends and flirts. Easy peasy!" he blurted.  _ Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. _

Pidge's eyebrow rose as they fixed their glasses on their tiny nose, "Sounds to me like you are not over him"

"Who-who said it was a  _ him _ ?"

"You did. Also, Allura is the only girl here, so it was obvious. Is it Keith? It's Keith, right?" Pidge stated, grinning.

"No! No! Did you ever see me flirt with him!?" Lance asked, getting up, hands in his hair, "like, come on, how could I- how did you-"

"Yes, and calm down, I won't tell Keith"

"It's  _ not  _ like that, Pidge. He… He never liked me anyway," Lance exhaled, pacing as he bit his nails, eyes fixed on the floor, "I tried to be, you know, nonchalant and pleasant and I guess I did some things to make Keith notice me,"

"Uhm, Lance-"

"But I can see how annoyed he is when I'm there, how he still sees me as an absolute jerk who hits on everybody for fun or to stick my dick into whomever, even when I don't, I swear to God!"

"Buddy-"

"And Keith, he- he hates me, it's in his eyes and you can see it too. I gave up a long time ago, I don't want to annoy him further, so I dropped it, as I already said…"

"Lance, you should-"

"I thought that maybe Loverboy Lance worked on him, honestly, but it doesn't. Not even my unwilling charm fascinates that guy, he isn't even  _ remotely _ interested! There is nothing else to explain, this is it, he-"

"Lance, stop!".

And Lance did, eyes wide as he stared at his friend, and noticed how Pidge was not looking at him, but at something behind him.

_ Oh. _

Keith was standing on the threshold of the room, pupils fixed on Lance, hands in midair as his whole body was being rocked by a fine tremble, breath hitched.

"Keith…" the Cuban muttered. Maybe he  _ did  _ have some explaining to do, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	4. 《Monsters & Mana 》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ post s8 but everyone is alive.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Valyun muttered under her breath, bow tight in her hands as she eyed the thief, "we already have to find an antidote to heal Block and Jiro II from the poison of the Gyullki flower, and Meklavar is still under the spell of the Witch!".

Pike hissed, "I know, I know. But if I don't complete this quest, then everything will be in vain. It's the hundredth time I try it, and I keep failing". He seemed genuinely upset- not just Pike, but Lance himself too. The other players around the table took notice, but didn't say anything for fear of aggravating the situation.

"All I need to do is bring this little magic box to the Nhuz Wizard, just behind the Mountain of Whispers," Pike explained, "on the way, we should find that antidote and probably a mage that can break the spell. I have enough coins and items to trade".

Valyun nodded, "I trust your choices, but I fear we do not have much time. We should hurry". And then, something exploded.

 _Right._

The toxic geysers. So, before any of them could speak, they bolted away, frantic.

"Pike! I don't have a potion to heal my previous wound, I am too slow!" Valyum yelled from behind, "you can do this-".

The geyser shot up from right under her feet, and in the blink of an eye, the archer was gone too.

It was just him now. Pike didn't know how long he'd been running, the little box held tightly in his hands as he huffed and puffed, looking back frantically. He didn't dare to stop. He couldn't.

If he didn't bring this tiny yet vital box where he was supposed to, it would have meant that his friends had died in vain. He couldn't allow himself to waste this chance, he couldn't let the despair drag him down. 

He glanced back again, and felt the earth rumbling violently under his feet. A pitiful scream caught in his throat, and then, darkness.

Lance straightened his back and hovered over the table, rolling the dice as he scored another disastrous combination, grunting. 

"I can't believe it, this thing is rigged!" he yelled, and everyone around the table looked at him worriedly.

"Relax, Lance, it's just a game." Hunk said, and Shiro nodded along, "The quest you chose is hard, but we believe in you".

Because after all the years fighting side by side, after the end of the war, after everything they'd been through, Lance still let himself sink into a pit of crippling self-doubt sometimes, and although it had gotten better, undeniably, he still felt like he was useless and less talented than average. Even when it came to a silly board game.

Keith arrived in that moment, fanned, "Sorry I'm late! What the-?".

Taking his statuine and toying with it, Lance eyed it with unsettling sadness, "Don't worry, you didn't miss much…"

"Lance, my boy, you fought a real war. No quest is too hard for you" Coran exhaled while twisting his moustache, "I can't say much, but you are close, very close".

"We didn't have poisonous flowers or crazy geysers intoxicating our sorry butts! How close can I even be!?"

"We had robeats, though…" Shiro pondered, and the others all hummed.

Keith shook his head, trying to understand what was happening, "What are you guys up to?" he asked, and the others actually acknowledged him more this time.

" _Monsters & Mana,_" Hunk said, "it's a roleplay board game. Wanna try?".

Keith seemed hesitant, "I've never seen you guys play it," he commented, "is this a, huh, new thing?".

"No, we actually played before, back when you were in the Quantum Abyss." Allura interjected, holding her little archer figure as she toyed with it absentmindedly.

"So, while I was gone for _two years_ , you played… Board games?" Keith asked, sitting next to Lance.

"Only a couple of times, don't make it sound like that's all we did!" the latter muttered, handing him a tablet, "Here, take this".

"Still…".

Lance groaned, "Do you want to play or not!?".

Keith shrugged, eyeing the tablet, "How does this work?"

"You create your character, then the Loremaster, that'd be Coran, tells a story and the characters have to, you know, make choices and stuff to proceed." Pidge explained, "You can follow our lead if you want, we are currently on Lance's character's quest".

The ex Red Paladin nodded, "Thanks. And, who are your characters?".

The others exchanged looks, and then eyed Lance, visibly under the weather. So they let him speak first.

Lance grinned shily, "This is Pike-"

" _Pike_? Seriously? You, _Lance,_ called your character _Pike?"._

Allura and Hunk snickered, while Shiro, Coran and Pidge only smiled, silently.

"Are you done!?" Lance rolled his ocean eyes, pouting, "As I was saying, Pike is a ninja assassin, but also a thief-"

"And… He's, huh, covered in fur..?" Keith noticed with a tad of amusement, and Lance blatantly ignored him.

"He's fast and agile, not as much as Valyun but pretty close. And he can sort of teleport for short distances, a pretty cool skill if you think about it..."

Keith hummed, "Yeah, that is pretty cool. But- who is Valyun?".

Allura's eyes sparkled as she brought her hand up a bit, "She's my character, a mystic archer! You'll love her, trust me. Valyum is swift and skilled, and her aim is impeccable!" the Princess chirped out enthusiastically.

"Oh, that sounds nice." Keith hummed, "And you guys are..?"

"I'm Meklavar, an axe fighter, and also a dwarf, so I'm immune to some spells… Not this one, though."

"And I'm Block, wise sorcerer and healer at your service!"

"This is Jiro II," Shiro spoke solemnly as he held his statuine, "he's a paladin, brave survivor and mighty warrior, on a quest to-".

Keith's eyebrow rose, "A Paladin? Not very original..."

"Ah, don't get me started on it!" Coran huffed, "I tried to convince the lad to pick a different class, but he has always been quite fond of the paladin role…" he exhaled, defeated.

Everyone else laughed, eyeing the former leader as he blushed timidly.

"So, do you have any ideas already?" Lance asked Keith, visibly more relaxed than he was before.

"Oh, _Pike,_ you'll see…" he grinned, starting to create his persona as the others continued.

Lance shrugged, and the game started again.

"How are you going to get past the Mountain of Whispers? Trolls live there, they'll destroy our scattered team in a tic," Hunk noted, "you should walk around it!".

Pike snorted, "No, that'd take forever! Pidge- I mean, Maklavar is already losing points with each passing moment, and we are short on options to save Block and Jiro II," he observed, grim, "my skills will not improve if we don't fight the trolls, but at the same time we'll most likely die if we try to battle with them…". 

" _Maybe I can help._ " came a voice from behind, making the others whirl around, eyes wide. Did he fall into a trap? Did he get ambushed? When a very familiar figure approached them, emerging from the shadow, Lance felt instant relief.

"Keith, my man-"

"The name's Yorak, _Pike,_ stay in character!" the new arrived retorted, smiling an instant later, "I'm a fighter, I can help with the trolls".

Looking at him, Pike noticed the shiny armor and the blade in his friend's hand. It didn't look very different from Shiro's, but Lance didn't question it.

Maybe he could really finish the quest now that he had a fighter on his side. Pike nodded, "Welcome to the fight, Yorak," he exhaled, "do you know what this quest is about?".

A negative response followed, and Lance eyed Keith over the table, "Dude, you could have asked earlier! Ugh…". He shook his head, looking back at the holographic board.

"Pike has to take the magic box to the Nhuz Wizard, in order to gain an imaginable treasure, but we also have to find a cure for Block and Jiro II and someone to break the spell that Maklavor is under." he explained, "the problem is that no matter what I- what _Pike_ does, I can't make it. I'm not skilled enough to handle all of this" he noted, a tad of self-hatred echoing in his voice.

When Lance felt Keith's hand squeezing his shoulder, he looked at him, forgetting about the game for an instant.

"Lance, I believe in you, we all do… And we always did. You fought a war and we were there to see how well you did. This is just a game, you can win with your eyes closed." he smiled, uncharacteristically calm- but again, war changes people.

Lance's chest swelled with pride and joy at those words, tears welling at the corner of his ocean eyes when a renewed wave of trust in himself washed over him. 

He was Lance Alejandro Rodríguez-McClain, he was the ex Blue and Red Paladin, senior member of the Voltron Team, honorary member of the Garrison council, and most importantly, a professional ninja assassin in _Monsters & Mana. _ He could win this. He was not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn't clear already, I have never played a roleplay game (like D&D) before... Sorry if this is widely inaccurate.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	5. 《Comfort》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ anxiety attack

Lance missed his home, it was not a secret for he’d said it plenty of times- how he missed Earth, and his little house in Varadero, his family, even the room at the Garrison and the teachers there. Lance missed it all, constantly, with no exception.

He missed the routine, the fact that he'd managed to get his mental health issues under control- it was all gone now.

Surely enough, being in space was the most exciting thing he’d ever done, and the Blue Paladin felt incredibly lucky and blessed for it, but still… That tinge of melancholy and utter fear in his tone was heartbreaking for those who heard him speak as if he were never going back again.

_ Does Lance really think that he’ll die in space? _ Shiro had asked himself once.

Lance did, but he never admitted it.

He trusted his team, he trusted that they could defeat Zarkon and go back to their home planet, but he’d doubted himself. He wasn’t sure if he’d survive for that long.

And today was particularly bad.

The Voltron team was no stranger to Lance’s off days, and they constantly worried because of that, despite what the Cuban boy thought. Everyone on the team cared, in their own way. Hunk, Shiro and Coran were very explicit in showing their affection, while Pidge, Allura and Keith always seemed more hesitant and uncertain on how to handle Lance’s anxiety and maybe make it go away.

But when Lance hadn’t met them in the dining room for breakfast, they immediately knew that something was wrong.

“I should check up on him,” Hunk announced after they’d waited for Lance to show up for some time, “he’s either sick or…" he trailed off, black orbs looking at the leader of the team.

“Good idea, Hunk,” Shiro nodded, “do you want someone else to come along and help..?”.

Hunk declined politely, raising a hand as he got up from his seat, “I don’t want to crowd him, and maybe he’s only really just slept in. I’ll let you guys know.” he smiled, "Be ready, just in case".

They knew what he meant.

“Please take care of him...” the Green Paladin muttered as Allura, Coran and Keith nodded along, eyes filled with sympathy and a tad of worry.

So, the Yellow Paladin walked to his friend’s room, palms of his hands sweating as he prayed that Lance was fine; seeing his best friend so vulnerable and inconsolable always broke his heart, and he didn't want to repeat the incident of last time, that had resulted in Lance hyperventilating after purposefully locking himself in the bathroom- they had to override the door to help him.

“Hey Lance,” Hunk called as he arrived, gently knocking on the door, “are you alright? Can I come in?”.

A faint mumbling calmed Hunk’s nerves because Lance was alive and conscious- why was he even worrying about it?- but at the same time, he was probably not in top shape. Hunk gulped.

“Lance, please, can I come in?” he repeated.

Another mumble, softer, hopefully affirmative.

Hunk let the door slide open, and walked in, finding his friend sitting on the mattress, knees drawn upwards as his head was nested between them; his whole form was trembling, almost imperceptibly, and Hunk’s heart squeezed in his chest.

“Oh, buddy… Are you feeling sick?”.

Lance nodded.

"Sick as in sick or..?" Hunk asked, fearfully. He didn't want to upset Lance further, so he chose the words carefully. After a second or two, a soft sob escaped Lance’s pursed lips, and he fearfully nodded, shuddering, his body trembling like a leaf in the wind. Hunk’s heart squeezed in his chest as he sat down next to his friend, patting his back gently, running his hand up and down his spine.

“I'm here, buddy. It’s going to be okay, Lance, I promise. We are all here for you...” he tried, “Today we have a day off. I mean, there hasn’t been much to do lately since everything’s been quiet, so... We can relax a bit, all of us. Why don’t you come with me? Maybe have breakfast and chill in the lounge with the others, if you’re up to it..?”. 

Lance only shook his head, burying it deeper between his knees.

“Come on, you can’t stay here alone all day, it’s bad for you. We need someone to make fun of Keith’s mullet, don’t leave us hanging like that!” Hunk chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

The Blue Paladin huffed out a choked laugh, so small and only half-hearted, but to Hunk it was enough for now, it was better than nothing after all. So he got up and held out a hand for Lance to grip onto.

Slowly, Lance rose to his feet, reluctant, dragging the blanket out of the bed and wrapping his own slim figure in it, tightly, covering him from head to toe. His disheveled bangs stuck out from below the blanket draped over his head too, and only with the light coming from the corridor Hunk was finally able to see his friend’s red-rimmed eyes, dark bags under those starry pools, complexion ashen.

When the two reached the lounge, Lance immediately flopped onto one of the couches, lying down, pouting. He was feeling really bad, so bad that he didn’t care to hide it today. He just wanted to be left alone, he didn't want to cause any problem to his teammates.

Lance had been taught to keep quiet, to be as invisible as possible, to handle his problems on his own or suffer in silence. Normally, he went against these  _ teachings _ , but not when he felt like this. 

He didn’t even notice Hunk leaving the room, another figure stepping in.

“Hello,” someone- Allura- chirped from the other side of the room, coming towards Lance with her hands behind her back, “how are you feeling, Lance?”.

The latter only shrugged from his horizontal position, grunting as he closed on himself further, still wrapped up like a burrito. He didn’t feel like communicating.

She hummed, sitting next to him, “Well, I heard that you are not feeling too well, so brought you a little something that might cheer you up…” she teased, catching Lance’s attention as he eyed her. The princess brought her hands forward, revealing a little flat box, “I found this at the Space Mall when I went there a couple of quintants ago, but I needed Pidge to help me with it so I could not give it to you any sooner…”. She handed him the container, and he sat up, every feature in his body screaming heartache and dejection; he grabbed the gift, and opened the box, revealing a shiny CD with his name written in cubital letters on it. His eyes shone with tears and his breath caught in his throat, unable to speak a word.

Allura understood, grinning gently, “Don’t ask me how Pidge found Earth songs for I have no clue, but from what they said, you will most likely like the pieces they selected.” the Princess explained, “This was supposed to be a gift for your birthday, but since we are still, huh-” she threw up her hands and counted rapidly, “approximately twenty-three quintants away, we figured that we could simply find another gift for that occasion”. 

Another wave of boiling, fat tears welled up in Lance’s ocean eyes as he tried to keep his composure, chest swelling up into an ugly sob that he choked on. He put the CD back into the box, carefully, and put it aside, only to get his arms free from the blanket and hug Allura, much to her initial shock. She melted into the hug anyway, smiling softly whispering in her friend's chocolate hair.

“I am sorry that you are not feeling well today, but I promise it will be better soon. We all want the best for you, Lance, so please do not hesitate to tell us if you need anything...” she finished, and Lance only nodded frantically, tightening the hug as he choked on sobs, careful not to spill tears on Allura's fine dress.

Lance felt the sofa sink next to him, and he pulled away from the hug. Keith was sitting there too, arms crossed as he eyed his teammate with a look that Lance couldn’t quite decipher. He lowered his gaze, feeling a tinge of shame and guilt build up in his chest, trying to shrink into the thick blanket, to avoid eye-contact; he didn’t want Keith to think that he was a liability to the team, he didn’t want to make his teammate angry again-

“Are you, huh, are you feelin’ alright, Lance?” Keith asked timidly, voice low and raspy, though Lance wasn’t so quick to get that his teammate was worried and not mad. So, he nodded his head, eyes shying away. Keith hummed, clearly not convinced- all he had to do was look at Allura to know that Lance was lying, and tears from before still stained his face and pooled at the corner of his shiny eyes.

“Are you sure? You can, y'know, talk to me- to us all,” Keith said hesitantly, “it’s fine if you’re feeling bad, we won’t blame you. It's okay, really...".

Lance almost chuckled at his friend’s (were they friends? No, Keith hated him, right?) obvious lack of experience at comforting people, but he didn’t, and only hummed along, shrugging.

“Happens all the time, ‘s fine.” Lance breathed out, truthfully. He'd left his meds on Earth, and he hadn't seen his therapist in a while, so it was bound to happen, he knew it was. Coran had tried to synthesize something to make up for the lack of meds, but he hadn't succeeded yet, for human biology was widely different from the Altean's.

The door slid open, and Shiro walked into the lounge, Coran shortly behind him as the two carried what resembled a huge, elongated box into the room. The men were grunting and puffing as they dragged the thing near the couch, and placed it on the floor, flopping on it too as they regained their breath.

“Found it!" Shiro panted, patting the surface of that sturdy object, “Pidge will be here soon to m’ke it work- God, this thing's heavy!”. Keith and Allura smiled, but Lance didn’t quite understand what was happening. He didn’t question it, and only lowered his gaze. Coran was the first one to regain his breath as he got up and stretched his aching back, eyeing the Cuban boy as he stared at the floor absentmindedly, gripping the blanket tighter.

“Number Three,” he called softly, “I am glad to see you joined us!”

“Yeah, buddy, we missed you.” Shiro added, walking behind the couch as he squeezed Lance’s shoulder in an attempt to provide some needed comfort.

"Can I?" he asked.

Lance had never complained about being touched when he felt like this, but Shiro- and everyone else- always wanted to make sure. Lance nodded.

The leader of Voltron could feel the tension in Lance’s musclea as he tried to ease it with a massage, careful with his robotic hand as he dug his fingers into the shoulders. Lance didn’t move one inch, so Shiro kept going, eyeing the Altean man and nodding.

“My boy, do you know what this is?” Coran asked, not waiting for a reply, “it’s a device connected to the Castle’s audio system, a really old one. Since the newest device does not work, unfortunately, we decided to bring this back for now.” he explained calmly, “so that we can play some nice tunes while we ‘chill’.” and the man made sure to make quote-on-quote gesture as he used that word that Pidge had taught him.

Lance huffed out half a laugh, but soon the realisation that he was most-likely being a burden hit him, heart sinking, chest heaving as his eyes snapped wide open. He got to his feet, staggering and almost tripping into the blanket, and shook his head, “Y’ don’t hafta do this, ‘m sorry, I’ll just-”.

Pidge stumbled in in all their messy glory, cables and various little pieces of whatever those were tangled impossibly as they approached everyone else.

“Hey! Sorry, I had trouble finding some of this stuff,” Pidge said, “but I’ll be quick to assemble everything, gimme a moment”.

Lance trembled, sitting back down on the couch as he folded onto himself, face pressed against his thighs as he brought his hands up and pressed his face into his legs. He whimpered and cried, and Keith wasn’t sure of why, but his hands moved on instinct as he rubbed Lance’s shaking back, soothing circles hopefully providing even the smallest amount of comfort. Shiro smiled, proud of the man his brother had become.

Pidge, Coran and Allura exchanged worried looks, and then looked back at Lance, a sobbing mess, breath cut short with each hiccup, body almost vibrating.

“Hey, you’re okay, Lance, you’re okay...” Keith tried, swallowing loudly as worry churned his guts, “let it all out, you’ll feel better later… Come on, don’t worry, just- do what you need to do… Shh, you’re okay, Lance...”. He fumbled for words, almost angry at the others for not helping him out, since they knew that he was admittedly and notoriously bad at comforting anyone. Hunk arrived in that exact moment, dragging a bar cart with plenty of food on it, rapidly coming next to his friends and kneeling in front of Lance as he left the cart behind.

“Lance, buddy, shh…” he hushed, eyeing his friends as everyone looked at him helplessly, feeling guilty that they hadn’t managed to make Lance feel instantly better for more than a second. Hunk’s gaze was soft as he looked at them, and then back at Lance.

“I made  _ yuca  _ and garlicky onions! Sort of,” he murmured, “it doesn’t taste exactly like your mother’s, but it’s pretty tasty nonetheless. Wanna try it?”.

Keith looked down at Lance, and shifted his gaze to the Yellow paladin, smiling softly, “Yeah, Lance, you should try it. This looks delicious, I’ll have some, please” Keith tried, because even if he’d already had breakfast he was willing to eat again if it made Lance feel less bad.

Allura nodded along, “So will I. The smell is delicious, Hunk!”

“Yeah, kiddo, you’re a cuisine prodigy.” Shiro commented, and tapped Pidge’s shoulder. They were still immersed in their work, but nodded along, “I’ll try that too, please”.

Coran was the last one to speak, “Number Three, I suggest you hurry. I fear your teammates and I will devour this dish before you get a chance to try it!”.

Lance sobbed louder, curling up further, eyes scrunched in pain and anguish and despair and sadness. He felt Keith’s light hand leaving his back, choking on a whimper because  _ I annoyed him, I annoyed everyone, I’m annoying, I’m so annoying, I’m too annoying, I don’t deserve them, I don’t- _

The hand came back soon, rubbing soothingly again, “Sorry, I just had to grab a plate for myself. Wouldn't want to miss this, huh, what was the name again?”

“Yuca!” Hunk chirped out.

“Right, this yuca. It smells great, I have to check it out, and you should too.” Keith tried.

Lance shook his head vehemently, hands rising to grip at his own hair and everyone in the room swore they could hear the strands snipping. Allura gently grabbed his hands and lowered them, and only then she realized just how much Lance was trembling.

“‘m sorry, ‘m sorry, ‘m sorry…” Lance chanted.

Pidge dropped what they were doing, crouching in front of Lance just like Hunk was doing earlier, “Hey, no. Why are you sorry? Don't be”.

Shiro put himself next to Pidge, and Coran and Hunk too, and Allura moved closer to Lance from her position next to him. Now, Lance was surrounded by his friends who eyed him in concern-  _ screw ‘not crowding him’ I guess  _ thought Hunk _ \-  _ as he wailed.

“I suck, I suck s-so much,” he muttered, “‘m sorry y’hafta see this shit, ‘m sorry! I don’t w-want to be like this, I’m so annoying I-”.

The collective hug shushed him immediately, overwhelmed by the sudden warmth and physical pressure on his body when six pairs of arms wrapped around him gently, so comforting and reassuring. Lance felt instantly safe and better.

“You don’t suck one bit.”

“And you being sad isn’t ‘shit’.”

“You don’t have to change, buddy.”

“And you’re not annoying!”

“We are happy you are who you are.”

“And we love you, Lance. We all love you”.

And Lance sobbed harder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very self-indulgent and vastly based on my own experience. Also, it's 2.7k words long, I was planning on keeping these all under 1.5k words each... oops!  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	6. 《Lance & Hunk》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ body shaming, violence.

Everyone who knew Lance had the certainty that he was mostly a goofy, kind and loving guy, and that despite his flaws- on which he dwelled too much- his company was pleasant. When he and Hunk had been paired to be roommates at the Garrison, the Saoman boy had his doubts: Lance looked so confident, surely one of the _cool guys_ , and Hunk worried that he had been matched with a soon-to-be bully, a typical jock. Thankfully, he was wrong. Lance had always stood up for Hunk, always fought for his friend when someone made unflattering comments regarding his weight or his shyness; Lance didn’t tolerate that people berated his friend, ever. And today was no exception.

“Hey, Garrett,” yelled Max- an aspiring fighter pilot- from the other side of the corridor as Hunk and Lance were walking to their First Aid class, “don’t break the cruiser when you get on it, fatass!!”.

Hunk lowered his eyes, as Lance put a hand on his back, looking straight forward, “Ignore him, he’s jealous ‘cause he can’t even land a fighter after one whole year of Flight School,” Lance snorted, not sparing the guy a single look, “I guess he just wants to take it out on someone who’s way better than him at everything, poor idiot”. So, they kept walking, picking up the pace to avoid any more problems; they were late already, and getting yelled at by a teacher was not the funniest experience, they both knew that thanks to Iverson.

Hunk smiled slightly at the thought that at least his friend cared, eyes still fixed to his shoes. He didn’t like it when they insulted him, but Lance’s always reassuring words made bearing the mockings a lot easier.

After their lesson, Lance and Hunk decided to go out in the garden to consume their lunch, trays in their hands as they chatted lively.

"Wanna go sit on the grass?" Lance suggested, grinning, "we have a long break today, so we can take it easy".

Hunk nodded, "Yeah, I'd like that".

They found a quiet corner, since Lance knew that Hunk didn't like the crowd too much, especially when it consisted of superficial and brutal fifteen year-olds.

Lance immediately grabbed the fork and shoved the canteen pasta in his mouth, humming, "Mh, could use a little extra cheese".

Hunk only nodded, playing with his food absentmindedly. His friend, of course, noticed right away.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing…"

"Come on, don't shut me out, dude. You know you can talk to Lancey-Lance." the Cuban breathed out more softly than what Hunk thought possible.

The young engineer huffed out a small laugh, "It's fine, I'm fine. Just… Not hungry, I guess."

Lance's heart sank, his stomach a pit. So Max had managed to upset Hunk, after all.

"Hey," he called, patting his friend's shoulder, "you didn't even have breakfast today, you must eat something to keep your strength up," he explained "we got two more classes later, you need food".

Hunk shook his head, "Seriously, I'm good. I… I'm really not feeling up to eating now".

Lance's fists tightened, but he made sure to hide the furious snarl that was plastered on his face, redder than what he thought.

"Hunk. Is it because of what Max said?".

The bigger boy flinched at the harsh tone, though he knew that Lance was not angry at him. He nodded, "It's fine, I know he's just a jerk. I shouldn't- I don't have to listen to him… It'll stop."

"Dude, you have to tell someone- a teacher, the supervisor, anyone that can do something about it."

"They wouldn't believe me..." Hunk interrupted, "that, or they would agree with Max"

"Hunk, no. We can record him, gather proof of the abuse! I can tell Veronica, you know she wouldn't hesitate to kick Max's abusive ass out of the academy".

Hunk cringed at the word, setting down the tray he had on his thighs and burying his face in his hands. Shakily, he exhaled, and shrugged. He didn't want to think that what he was undergoing was abuse, but it really was. Lance was right. But Hunk shrugged again.

"Max is… He wouldn't forgive me"

"Fuck Max! He's being an abusive piece of shit, so fuck him." Lance noted, harshly, "You'll be safe if Max gets kicked out. I mean, people who are expelled can't get back in, you know?" he added, squeezing Hunk's shoulder. He offered his kindest, most supportive smile, but everything inside of Lance screamed bloody murder.

Max had always been a real _dick_ to Hunk, shoving him into the lockers, tripping him, shouting insults- once, Max had even set Hunk's notes on fire after tearing his backpack apart. And since Lance was stuck in the infirmary after getting a nasty stomach bug, he couldn't do anything to protect his friend. He'd never forgiven himself for that, and now it was time to act.

" _Well, look at this pathetic view…"_ came a voice from behind them, and Hunk and Lance whirled around, facial features hardening at the sight of Max and some- six, Lance counted- of his friends. The boy, no taller than Lance but physically stronger than him, approached the outnumbered group, the rest of the gang following close behind their leader.

"Garrett, hey, looks like you haven't eaten yet. Or is it the second plate you get?" Max laughed, his friends tagging along, "and you, McClain, aren't you tired of sticking to this sturdy motherfucker's ass? So sad."

Lance got up, patting his pants to clean them of the grass strands. He looked at Max's hazel eyes, closing the distance between them.

"Get lost," he hissed, "I'm tired of your shit, and I don't want problems."

"Oh?" Max's eyes widened, a mocking snarl on his pale face, "Looks like you got balls, after all... I thought you were just a girl disguised as a guy," the teen joked, "McClain, McClain, wasting your time with this pig-"

_crunch_

"Don't you fucking dare calling him that again!" Lance screamed, bloodied fist still in mid-air after hitting Max's nose. Surely enough, Lance did not expect his arms to be grabbed and yanked back, his whole figure thrown back on the floor as he brought his ocean eyes up, frantically searching for his friend's. Max rapidly recovered from the shock, and before Hunk even managed to understand what was going on, he found himself pinned to the ground as four of Max's friends threw themselves on him. 

The other two bullies held Lance down as he squirmed and kicked. Ocean eyes met obsidians, and widened in realisation.

"Leave Hunk alone," Lance said, almost pleading, "he didn't do anything, just- just leave him alone, Max!".

Max didn't take the bait, and put his feet on Lance's temple, pressing the head to the ground as the Cuban grunted and growled in pain and rage. Hunk noticed that his friend's nose was bleeding too now, and that his cheek was bruising rapidly, gaze falling away forcibly, the sound of punches hitting his friend's flesh nauseating. Lance screamed in anger and growled, but his sounds of distress died down, and Hunk's heart stopped.

"Lance!" he called, trying to shake the guys off, unsuccessfully. He was not moving anymore, he was not thrashing and trying to get away. Lance was just laying on the grass, face down. Hunk panicked.

And when Max kicked Lance straight in the face, all Hunk saw was red. With inhumane force, any sanity momentarily gone, he got on his feet, getting the upper hand on the bullies as he shoved them away from himself, grunting as they insulted him before getting hit, Max and the other two guys running toward him too. Hunk played dirty: he wanted to end this quickly, he had to. He kicked and punched wherever his limbs landed, he didn't care about fairplay, he just made his way toward his friend, getting rid of the others, headbutting Max square in the jaw, probably breaking a couple of the guy's teeth. He didn't care about getting expelled.

Because Lance was limp on the ground, unmoving, still as a statue, crimson blood pooling under his scrunched face, breath ragged and shallow. 

He ran to Lance's side when everyone else was writhing in pain on the ground, knees skidding on the grass as his hands hoovered uncertainty, pupils trembling. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to-

"H-Hunk…" Lance rasped out, voice wet as specks of blood came out when he coughed weakly, "y'good?".

Hunk nodded frantically, "You- Lance, fuck, I'm okay- fuck, shit, Lance, I'm-" he stuttered. Tears welled up at the corner of his eyes as he watched his friend's eyes fluttering close, a grin that Hunk couldn't understand on his too pale face.

"I r'corded Max…" Lance slurred, each word exhausting him more, "on m-my phone…".

Hunk didn't have time to process, when rapid footsteps approached him and his friend, someone- Veronica?- asking questions frantically, unusually panicked tone making Hunk's heart beat faster. 

When Lance woke up in the infirmary a whole day later, Hunk cried hard, squeezing his friend into a tight hug- _"ouch, Hunk, Hunk, the bruises, wait!"_ \- and whispering apologies.

Lance had immediately asked his friend if he was okay, and smiled brightly at the news that they had not been expelled, unlike Max, nor suspended, unlike Max's friends. They had been assigned to cleaning duty for a whole month, but that could have gone worse. Hunk had hugged his friend further at that, lifting Lance's lanky figure off the ground.

_"Thank you for being the best friend I could've hoped for!"_

_"And thank you for exact the same reason, Hunk"._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse me sir this is my emotional support brotp.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	7. 《Red》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️none

_ “Come on, old Blue. It's me, Lancey-Lance, open up!”  _

The words echoed in Lance’s head as he paced toward the Red Lion, guts knotting up tightly as nausea bubbled up in the back of his throat, stinging like the tears that pooled up at the corner of his eyes.

Blue had shut him out. She’d shut him out for good. 

Allura had said that it was not a negative thing, quite the contrary, but Lance couldn’t quite believe her… It hurt. It hurt so much, the feeling of being essentially thrown out of his Lion like that, overnight- it hurt.

Lance found himself in front of the Red Lion, her particle barrier down; this only made Lance’s heart squeeze further, chest heaving. It wasn’t a mistake, a misunderstanding- no, it was real. He was the Red Paladin now.

Slowly, he got on the Lion, eyes darting from one side of the beast to another, so familiar yet strange, unknown. The red light inside the cockpit, despite being fairly dull, made the Cuban boy extremely nervous, feeling uneasy and uncomfortable like a fish out of water.

He was, quite literally, a fish out of water. The paladin whose signature element was water, abruptly thrown into the fire of hell, scalding and furious, rapid and dizzying compared to Blue’s elegance.

Lance sat down on the pilot seat, adjusting it to his body, regulating the height and the distance from the pedals appropriate for his lanky legs- despite being only a couple of inches taller than Keith, their bodies were very different in shapes and sizes.

The Cuban breathed in and out slowly, hands shakily gripping the helms. 

“Focus, Lance, focus.” 

Closing his eyes, the buzz in the back of his head resounded loudly, more and more intense with each passing instant. It was quite different from Blue’s. And Lance’s heart ached.

Blue… She’d shut him out. Maybe- probably, surely- it was for his own good, but Lance knew he wasn’t going to adjust that easily that change. He shook his head.

“No time to wallow!”.

He still had to make Red fly, after all- the voices of his panicked teammates echoed in the helmet, frantically asking for backup, yelling out coordinates and orders to better handle the fight. Lance briefly wondered how Allura was doing, if she’d adjusted to Blue or not.

“She probably did…”. She was gifted, the whole team knew that, and Lance just hoped that his- that  _ her  _ Blue would treat the Princess well. He was sure she would.

And now, all he had to do was connect with Red. She’d been Keith’s Lion first, so Lance knew that it was not going to be that easy.

“Well,” he exhaled, “nice to meet you, Red. I’m Lance, your new paladin, I guess.” he talked calmly, fumbling for words, “I, huh, I know you probably miss Mullet- Keith, you probably miss Keith as your pilot… I’m not nearly as skilled and certainly not as impulsive, but I’ll try to keep up the pace, okay?”.

Red’s purring didn’t get any louder. Not a good sign.

“Our friends need us, so I beg you, just for this once, to work with me. I’ll… I’ll leave you alone after this, I swear. I know I’m not meant to pilot you- so I won’t annoy you with my slow moves and all. Just… Help me, only for today.” Lance whispered, grips on the helms tightening. A fine layer of sweat covered his face, eyes forcefully shut, teeth gritted as the paladin tried to focus as much as he could, waiting for that fine, invisible thread to form between him and Red, knowing that a weak bond was enough to handle the situation only for today. He would not insist on pestering Red with his presence further.

The screams of his teammates grew more distressed as they begged for help, and Lance could hear them panting, grunting, screaming in pain and anger and fear and- 

“Red. I need to help them. Please, please!” he murmured, eyes shining with unshed tears, “Red! Come on! I- I don’t want to be useless again. I want to save my team. I want to save my friends, I must!”. Tears now flooded freely down his face, a mix of fury and dread building up in his chest.

“Let me help them. Let me join the fight. I won’t- I won’t disappoint you. It’s not fair to the team, it’s not fair to Keith who was committed to bond with you, it’s not fair to Allura who found herself thrown into battle like that, and it’s not fair to you… Please, Red. Let me make this right. Let me join the fight and make this right.” he spoke, tone dying down gradually, his screams replaced by whispers.

He inhaled and exhaled, a fine tremble wrecking his body, adrenaline pumping in his veins as Red’s purring increased in volume, little by little, leaving Lance in a state of wonder and renewed trust. 

“I trust you, Red. Please- trust me back.”

For a neverending instant, nothing happened. The air around Lance stilled, his breath caught in his throat, the noise of blood rushing to his ears loud and deafening.

He’d failed, he’d screwed up, he’d-

Red came to life with a resounding roar, straightening on all fours, the whole hangar trembling at her impetuous burst of energy. It was the most reassuring sound that Lance could have hoped for, now. He could clearly sense Red in the back of his head sending off impulses and orders, his hands moving as if on autopilot. In a single moment, she was out in space, speeding through the stars. Lance was taken aback by her speed, the impulses she sent slightly dizzying. But he could handle it. He knew he could.

_ “I'm okay, b-but we can't fight this guy alone!” _ he heard Keith grunt in pain.

With a smirk plastered on his face, Lance commanded Red to go faster, eyes fixed on the battlefield in front of him. And Red purred in joy and pride.

“You won't have to!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish Lance hadn't been shut out by Blue so suddenly. I understand the narrative needs, completely, and I am glad that Lance got the chance to be the right hand man, but UGH MY SOUL, HE WAS SO SAD AT FIRST!!!!!!  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	8. 《Hero》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ casualties (not graphic).

“I’m no hero.”

“Lance…”

“Just, no. Leave me alone.” Lance breathed out, Keith standing a few feet away as his teammate turned his back to walk away.

 _I fucked up..._ the Blue Paladin thought to himself, grimly. The sudden presence of gloved fingers gripping his intact upper arm stopped him dead on his tracks, head low. He didn’t turn around.

“Lance, please. Listen to me,” Keith whispered, tone soft, words rolling off his tongue uneasily, but truthful, “you tried your best, and you saved hundreds. What happened was- the fact that someone died was not your fault. You saved the great majority of those people, you… You did what we couldn’t do.” he murmured.

Lance shook his head vehemently, not even trying to get rid of Keith’s hand.

“It doesn’t matter…” he breathed out, so softly that Keith had to lean forward to hear him better, “There were very young people among those I didn’t save. Three of those eleven people I let die were kids. People our age, you know? It’s… I feel like I killed one of us, Keith!” he hissed.

Tears stung at the corner of his ocean eyes as he trembled in rage and hatred toward himself, because if he’d been faster, if he’d thought more quickly, he could have had saved them all. 

-

The look on those prisoners’ faces were going to haunt him for eternity, fear screwing up their features in their final moments, the youngest aliens crying, their parents and the others there pulling their bright red hair as they watched the Blue Lion hovering above the collapsing prison. And Lance, he was literally dangling from the Lion’s jaw, one hand gripping it, the other trying to reach the prisoners’ hands as the base started to collapse under their feet.

Lance had begged Blue to fly lower, to just let him reach them, the kids at least, to let him save them- but the Lion refused, she didn’t listen and instead she gained altitude, Lance cursing and cussing as he tried to grab the aliens’ wrists nonetheless. Then, in the blink of an eye, the acidic liquid engulfed them all, and without a scream those eleven prisoners were gone, nothing left of them, not a piece of clothing or a single bone, nothing. Droplets splashed on Lance’s arm, but he didn’t even yell as the substance bore to his armor and skin, melting everything on its way.

Instead, he just stared forward at where the aliens once stood, arms reaching for the paladin, holding the youngest ones up and begging him to _“please, please save them, they’re light, grab them, take them!”._

The aliens that were already on the Lion dragged its paladin back, and the jaw shut close.

It wasn’t until Blue and the other Lions landed and unloaded the prisoners that Lance started to whimper. Keith- who was physically the closest to him- ran to his friend’s side, supporting him.

And Lance explained it all, gulping and hiccuping between one sob and another, absentmindedly holding his injured arm as blood poured steadily from the wounds. Keith had dragged him to the infirmary, the other paladins following close and asking questions, fearfully waiting for Lance to answer, to tell them he was okay. 

Physically, he was- Coran had said after cleaning, disinfecting and bandaging the wound. Mentally, however, Lance was compromised. 

He’d begged to be left alone, but Keith hadn't let go.

-

“You _are_ a hero, Lance. You didn’t kill them on purpose, you tried to save them and injured yourself in the process too. If- if you’d fallen into that pit, Lance, you’d be-”

“Better off dead than living as a murderer.” Lance growled, flinching hard to make Keith release him, “A hero doesn’t let people die. A hero doesn’t let _children_ die!” he yelled, “I could’ve _forced_ Blue to fly lower, but not even my Lion listens to me. If it had been you to tell your Lion to do it, you would’ve succeeded. But I failed, Keith. I failed!”

“Lance-”

“I don’t even have the guts to face the other prisoners! They- fuck- they saw me as I struggled in all my pathetic glory, as I struggled to save those people...” he explained, turning to face Keith who had a struck look on his face, “I’m a fucking failure, Keith, I’ve always been. A hero, you say? Look up the word ‘hero’, tell me if ‘murderer’ comes up as a possible synonym. It doesn’t, because murderers are not heroes!”.

The Cuban was crying now, and there was no use in denying that. Keith saw as red-rimmed eyes shone with tears and despair, Lance currently being the embodiment of distraughtness. 

And when Lance stomped away, running as he hid his face, and all Keith could do was watch, feeling useless.

“Fuck, fuck…” Lance chanted, trying to dry his tears as he was headed for his room, wanting to lock himself up forever-

He bumped into something- someone?- and fell in a heap, butt hitting the cold floor of the Castle hard; during the fall, he tried to ease the impact by putting his arms down, forgetting about the injured limb as grunting in pain as he suppressed a scream when it hit the floor.

He cradled the throbbing arm to his chest, eyes shut as he fought the tears.

“-sorry, are you okay!?” a young voice asked, its owner crouching before him. Lance lifted his pained gaze, and immediately skidded back on the floor at the sight. It was one of the aliens he’d rescued before. Lance’s chest seized as he averted the gaze, nausea building up in his stomach as he struggled to keep its content down; the three coral eyes stared at him, uncertain.

“Paladin Lance, are you alright? Shall I get someone?” the young alien asked, visibly worried, “I apologise, I did not mean to injure your arm further. Please let me escort you to the infirm-”

“M’ okay, m’ okay, don’t- I’m sorry. God, I’m so fucking sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please- I’m sorry, I-” he stuttered, curling up on himself, bowing on all fours in front of the very confused alien, trembling like a leaf in the storm.

“Why are you sorry? I was the one who did not pay attention. Please, don’t be upset-” they tried, a hand gently patting Lance’s back, “shall I get the Princess? She’s the leader, right? What’s the name, huh, Allura? Princess Allura, right?”.

Lance shook his head, fumbling for apologies, sputtering half-sobs alternated to pleas of mercy and forgiveness, much to that alien’s confusion as they looked around, nobody that could help in sight.

“May I ask you why you are apologising? I am afraid I am unfamiliar with your species’ traditions, for I know no reason why you should be saying sorry to me now!” they asked gently, “please, Paladin Lance.”

And he slowly, slowly brought his eyes up, ocean orbs trembling. He was red in the face, cheeks flushed as he heaved for air, “I let them die, I killed th-them! They- they believed in me, and-”. 

Air didn’t reach his lungs anymore. He was a monster, that’s what he was.

“Oh, Paladin Lance, it was not your fault. You saved almost three hundred strangers on your own and risked your life for us. Your bravery and heroism shall not be forgotten!” the alien explained, “None of us blames you for their death, for it could not be avoided. Please, don’t cry anymore”.

Lance did the exact opposite, a pained whimpering tore from his throat as he sobbed, “There were teenagers, they-”

“I know, I know there were young people too, Paladin Lance. Innocent, naive people your age, probably. But you did what you could…” they inhaled, shakily, “You fought harder than anyone else to save them, you even injured yourself to save them. It is not your fault if your Lion did not obey you: by doing so, it would have risked your life, and ours too. It was a hard choice, but a wise one. And my people do not blame you!”. They really did not.

“The other paladins focused on the battle whilst you chose to focus on the people, on us, and we got out without a single scratch. The Galra regime enslaved and killed thousands of us, so we will not blame our saviour, our hero, for the accidental death of a few. They will not be forgotten, but the same goes for your selfless and beyond kind gesture, Paladin Lance.” the alien muttered, enveloping Lance in a hug, “to me- to us all- you will always be a hero who did more than anyone else to help. And for this, I humbly thank you, Paladin Lance”. 

Lance’s chest swelled up, a mix of emotions that he could not decipher dizzying him as his arms moved on instinct and wrapped around the alien, tightly.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered, voice watery, “I'm supposed to be a hero, I shouldn't cry-”.

The alien hushed him softly, “Heroes are allowed to cry. It shows us that they- that _you_ are trustworthy and loving. It shows us you are you, and that’s all we ask for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, this got langst-y real quick.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	9. 《Bi pride》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ biphobia, underage drinking, Klance, Adashi.

“It’s weird,” someone commented, and sixteen year-old Lance shrunk back further, slowly sipping his beer as he tried to ignore them.

“What’s weird?” asked another, grinning.

“I mean, she is such a slut… First she went out with Glenn, and after they broke up she started dating Melissa? So. Fucking. Gross!” the first girl laughed, shortly followed by the others around her. 

“I bet I can convince her that she just hasn’t found the right guy yet! I bet I can turn her straight again,” one of the boys laughed, a vulgar gesture inciting his friends’ laughter. His hands reached for one of the girls’ ass as they all laughed, snorting and giggling.

Lance gulped, trying to find his way out of there. Coming to that party had been a bad idea, one of the worst he’d ever had; Hunk was right, he shouldn’t have come there, he-

“McClain, there you are!” called one of the people in the circle, raising his paper cup, “come on, bro, join us!”.

Lance’s heart hammered in his chest, ears deaf and gaze blurry as his body moved on autopilot, approaching the others as he plastered a fake smile on his face, raising a timid hand and waving it.

“I- I can’t stay, I have to revise for tomorrow’s test-”

“Ow, come on! It’s barely midnight, have some fun!” one of the girls elbowed him, and then proceeded to wrap her arms around his, squeezing it into a death grip. Alcohol lingered in her breath, and Lance turned his head away, discreet.

“I’d love to, Pam, but I really need a good grade or I’ll fail, sorry. You guys, huh, you have fun, mh?”

“Oh, Lance, stay!”

“Yeah, don’t go yet!”

“Where did our favourite goofball go?”

“Is that _beer_ you’re drinking? Let me get you something better-”

“No, guys, really,” Lance excused himself, gently prying away from Pam’s hands, “I can’t, I’m sorry. I don’t feel very well, so it’s better if I go back and rest-”.

Much to everyone’s disappointment, Lance stepped away, speeding toward the door, much easier said than done due to the quantity of drunk teenagers crowding that room. If Iverson caught them, they’d be expelled, for sure. And Lance didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

_“I heard he was looking at a guy earlier, Shirogane's protégé… Looking as in, you know, hitting on him!”_

_“Who, McClain? Didn’t they see him with Jenny Larsson a couple of months ago!?”_

_“Oh my God, I know, right? Creep…”_

_“What a pity, he’s such a stud! I hope it’s not true… That’d be a waste”_

_“I mean, he always seemed too close to his roommate anyway… It was only a matter of time!”_

Lance ran, speeding out of that basement, mindlessly dropping his half-empty cup. If he ran, he could reach his room in five minutes tops, he could-

“Lance, pss!” called someone, and he lost several shades, face paling, knees buckling. Just around the corridor, he spotted a very familiar figure, timidly lurking in the shadows.

“Hunk..?”

“I was coming to get you! Iverson’s personally checking that everyone’s in their room, and he’ll reach ours soon. Hurry!” the Samoan hissed, and Lance followed him close, lanky legs speeding through the corridors- at one point, it was him to be dragging Hunk. 

As soon as they reached the corridor their room was situated in, they checked if it was empty, and when it was, they rapidly snuck back in. The door closed behind their backs, and the teens were left panting, heaving for air. 

“Get in your night uniform before Iverson gets here, I’ll tidy the room up a bit. Hurry!” Hunk commanded, and Lance obeyed, nodding frantically as he grabbed his clothes and went to the bathroom. He splashed freezing water on his face and hair, and brushed his teeth to make the smell of beer go away- which was not something he could’ve gotten at the canteen.

Lance’s whole body trembled with fear, adrenaline finally running low, replaced by anxiety and dread because _holy shit, they know, they know, I’m fucked, they-_

A knock on the door of the room startled him, and he rapidly put the uniform on, straightening up and standing in attention in front of the door as Hunk opened it.

“Garrett, McClain.” Iverson called, and the boys clicked their heels, right hand up to their forehead as they held their breaths.

“McClain, why is your hair wet?”

“I was taking a shower, sir.” Lance gulped.

“At this time of night? You know you should have been in bed for two hours by now!”

Hunk cut in, voice shaking, “He was, sir, but cadet McClain was feeling unwell, so he opted to take a shower before alarming health services, sir.” he lied, convinced.

Iverson only hummed, nodding.

“Be sure to alert someone if you keep feeling unwell,” Iverson continued, turning his back to leave, “at ease.” he finished, and left. Hunk closed the door, and once it was just him and Lance, he released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Slowly, he turned to face Lance.

The Cuban teen did look unwell, truthfully. His eyes were fixed to his feet, whole body trembling, and he seemed to be on the verge of tears. Hunk’s stomach clenched. 

“Lance, hey, what’s wrong?”

“I- nothing, nothing, it’s fine.”

He dried the tears with the back of his hands and paced toward the bathroom, drying his hair silently. He felt terrible. Those kids- the things they’d said… It hurt. It hurt so bad. Lance put the hairdryer down, and sat down on Hunk’s bed, the bottom bunk. That was alarming enough.

“Hunk,” he called, and his friend eyed him in concern, sitting on the bed too.

Lance breathed in, shakily, hands gripping at the uniform’s pants. Sweat ran down his forehead as he trembled.

“Is… Can I ask you something?”.

Hunk nodded, a hand on Lance’s back.

“Do you think I’m gross?”

“Like, right now?” Hunk asked, confused as he rapidly looked at his friend and shrugged, “nah, you’re just a bit sweaty, it happens”.

A small laugh bubbled up Lance’s throat as he shook his head, “No, I meant, do you think that I’m gross, in general?”.

Hunk seemed more disoriented than he was before, “I’m- I’m not sure I’m actually following you, Lance. I don’t find you gross in any way, if that’s what you’re asking, but… I’m not sure of what you mean.”

Lance trembled further, tears pooling at the corners of his ocean eyes, “I… Listen, I have to tell you something, but-” he couldn’t keep the sob that escaped his mouth down, and he sagged forward, hiding his face in fear and shame. Hunk patted his back, worry churning his guts as he thought of the possible things that could have upset his friend. During their two years of friendship, Hunk had never seen Lance so distraught, and this was deeply unsettling.

“Lance, buddy, what happened? What’s up with you today?” he asked, gentle tone trying to ease his friend’s evident distress, “Did something happen when you were at that party? Did they do something to you?”.

Lance only nodded, and Hunk’s breath was cut short. 

_Oh fuck. Did someone hurt Lance? Did they-_

“I’m bi.” Lance hiccupped, and Hunk’s world stopped on its tracks as he processed. Not that there was much to understand about his friend’s sexuality, but rather why it was upsetting him so much. 

_No. No, no. Did the people at the party tell Lance he’s gross because he’s bi?_

“Lance-”

“I- I thought it was a phase, but… Hunk, it’s been going on for almost three years now, I don’t- I can’t fix this, I’m sorry, I-”

Hunk enveloped his friend in a tight hug, and Lance’s mumbles ceased, his teary eyes wide as he breathed slowly.

“It’s okay, Lance. It’s okay. Thank you for trusting me with this, Lance. Thanks, buddy.” Hunk spoke softly, “You don’t have to apologise, there’s nothing wrong with this.”

Hunk gently pulled his friend away.

“Y’ don’t think I’m g-gross?” Lance hiccupped, astonished. Hunk only shook his head, exhaling softly.

“I d-don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Hunk. I-”

“You like Keith, right?” Hunk stated, and Lance almost choked on his spit. He kind of did, and his roommate patted his back, helping him to regain his breath.

“How-?”

“I’ve seen you looking at him, plus I had my suspicions, but it wasn’t my place to say. And, Lance, I’m here. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

Lance’s eyes sparkled as he hugged his friend again, burying his face in the broad chest, “Th-those people said that you and I are _too_ close, and- and I don’t want to drag you into this..!”

“Dude, if I were into men, it’d be an honor for me to be with you.” Hunk laughed, “don’t listen to them, I don’t care about rumors. After all, you’re the one who taught me that bullies are just jealous.” he winked, and Lance erupted in laughter at the memory, nodding frantically.

“So true!”

-

“Lance!” Keith yelled from downstairs, “we should’ve left five minutes ago! The parade won’t wait for us, you know?”.

Lance stumbled down the stairs, almost tripping over his bisexual flag, frantically draping it on his shoulders as he grabbed the sunglasses and put his shoes on. Keith, who held a gay flag in his hand, sighed, eyeing his fiancé.

“Sorry, I was just remembering something,” Lance explained, getting up and locking the door behind him, “what did the others say?”

“Hunk and Pidge will meet us at the parade, and Shiro will be late ‘cause he ripped the hem of his flag- Adam’s fixing it."

“And Allura, Romelle and Coran?”.

Keith crossed his arms, eyeing the man before him, “They’ll come too, they’re very excited for their first pride parade on Earth!”.

Lance smirked, and slowly grabbed his fiancé’s hand, delicately, gaze soft and longing. Back when he was only sixteen, almost ten years ago, he would have never dreamt that a moment like this would come for him too.

That was his first pride parade spent with Keith, and hopefully many more would follow.

He breathed in, slowly, renewed confidence boosting his morale. He could do this.

"Then let’s go!”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enby people 🤝 bi people -> "stop being greedy, just pick one!". No, I don't think we will ;)  
> Shout out to all my bi friends and to all the loving bi people out there, I see you, I respect you and I love you. Fuck biphobes 🖕  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	10. 《Sky and Stars》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

Lance sat on the floor of the deck, staring outside the broad window as the universe unraveled before his ocean eyes. They sparkled as he glanced at the infinite cosmos before him, at the stars that shone so brightly, lighting the sky- and he looked at this as if it were his first time.

It had been some phoebs since he’d joined the Voltron team, and still, he stared in wonder as the unmatched beauty. Lance loved it, he just did. The fact that everything was made of the same cosmic dust, that everyone had a part of everything in themselves- it made him feel valid, it made him feel protected, not alone. Despite being God knows how many lightyears away from his family on Earth, Lance still felt deeply connected to them, somehow, and whenever a wave of homesickness discouraged him, the young Cuban always tried to remind himself that he, his family, his team, and everyone else were still part of one.

Being among the stars, exploring them, soaring in the sky- it had been his dream since he could remember, and it had never changed. When he’d been told that he had been chosen as a cargo pilot, he had lost any hope to achieve his dream, but less than a year later Lance and his friends- they were, now- had been quite literally ejected into space, and his whole life had changed for the better.

Fighting was the part that he hated the most, and he laughed at the irony as he remembered that his first idea was to become a fighter pilot, destined to die in battle against unknown forces- unknown to earthlings, at least. And now, he honestly hated it. 

War meant death, and Lance despised those. The stars- destroying them during conflicts, even only barely grazing their surface made Lance sick to his stomach. It wasn’t fair to the universe, after all the complex mechanism necessary to form stars and planets- it just wasn’t fair.

Of course, he cared more about the inhabitants of said stars and planets, even about the smallest organisms, the most non-sentient beings, but… The stars felt like living creatures, to him.

When he’d first landed on a Balmera, Lance had felt so deeply connected to it, not in Hunk’s way, but more like a soft buzzing in his chest, the thrill of sheer admiration and love toward something that he didn’t even know well. It just felt right. 

_ He  _ felt right, there, among the stars, in the sky, a neverending mantle of darkness 

Each night, he came on the deck, a thick blanket wrapped around him, making him feel so warm and safe, at ease. He never expected to find anyone, but in one way or another, someone joined him most of the times, and despite how brief their conversations were, Lance was deeply grateful, for he wasn’t alone in this.

Just like the majority of nights, it was Coran that came on the deck, yawning sheepishly, approaching the young paladin slowly, making sure to make enough noise to alert him of his presence but not enough to startle him.

“Lance, hello.” he called, gently. He took a sit next to Lance, eyeing him discreetly, a soft grin plastered on his mustached face. The paladin brought his chin up and down a bit, not averting his gaze from the window.

“Hey, Coran,” he replied, “what’s up?”.

He knew why, but Lance asked that every time nonetheless. It felt like the most natural way to start a conversation in such a odd situation, though maybe it wasn’t. The fact was that Coran missed his home planet, Altea, forever gone, and Lance missed Earth, still there from what he knew, but so, so far away, out of his reach. Two sides of the same coin, and gazing at the stars was cathartic, and Lance wasn’t sure if Coran shared his idea of being part of one, but he didn’t pry- mamá had taught him better.

“I could not sleep, so I opted to join you here, Number Three.” the man chirped, toying with his ginger facial hair, “have you had trouble falling asleep as well?”

“You know it,” Lance shrugged, hinting a small smile, “I just like it here, sleep comes easier.”

“I agree, lad. I agree…”.

The silence that fell on the room was far from uneasy; the two men needed to be with someone that understood them, and speaking was not required, on the contrary sometimes silence said more than a million words.

Lance’s eyes lingered upon the brightest star, not the biggest among the others, but probably the one he was most fascinated by; it shone of a dull purple, but unexpectedly blind, perfectly melting in the black nothingness.

“You know,” Lance breathed out, softly, “I like it here.”

Coran’s eyebrow rose, as he eyed the boy, uncertain.

“I mean, not just the Castle, but- here. Space.” Lance continued, “I like space. And the sky, the stars, every part of it… It’s beautiful, I really like it.”

“I sure hope you do, lad. You are a legendary defender of the cosmos,” Coran smiled, “though I would not blame you if you felt lonely in the middle of this eternal void.”

“I do, sometimes, but… I don’t know, the sky’s so- so infinite, you know? When I feel lonely, I always think to myself that I am not, really. Everything is made of- space, after all...”

“Cosmic dust, you mean?”.

Lance nodded, “Yeah.”

He paused.

“If this fact helps you to feel less alone, I suppose it’s a good thing that you think like this,” Coran murmured, gently patting Lance’s shoulder, “I think you are right, we are all part of the same thing, in a way. It’s- reassuring.”

“And scary.”

“Scary..?”

“Yeah,” Lance nodded his head, looking at Coran’s eyes for the first time since he arrived, “when I was a kid, before the Garrison, I mean, I used to think that if we are all made of the same matter, we had a chance to be invincible, you know? But...” he paused.

Coran didn’t insist, and let the boy gather his thoughts.

“But,” Lance continued, “stars die. Planets die. And- and we die too. We are literally made to die, you get what I’m saying?”

“I think I do.”

“And if we are made to die, isn’t all of this-” he gestured at the sky vaguely, hands moving with no real aim, “-useless, in the end?”.

Coran exhaled from his curved nose, mustache moving as warm air blew over it.

“We will die, one day. The point of  _ this, _ ” he said, nodding at what Lance meant earlier, “is to make something good out of our lives. Stars help us navigate in the cosmos and on our planets, and they are among the very reasons why populations exist and thrive. Just like them, we all have a purpose in life. The sky, the cosmos itself- it’s what made us come to life.” the man explained, calmly, Lance’s eyes shining in wonder as he listened closely.

“Just because something, or someone comes to an end after running its course, it does not mean that any little part of it is worthless. You and I, our team, our friends and families, the Galra, the other thousands and thousands of populations and beings, every plant, every animal, every rock- we all have our purpose.”

“You think…” Lance hesitated, “you think I have a purpose too?”

“Of course, Number Thr- Lance. Of course, my dear boy, you do have a purpose. And I believe in you, I know you will fulfill it.” 

The creases between Lance’s eyebrows eased, and he smiled, hopeful. After all, he did have something in common with the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catch me being philosophical- stop laughing, hey! Anyway, since there is no prompt that explicitly involves Coran (why do they always ignore him ;-; ?) I decided to make up for the lack of gorgeous men and put him here.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	11. 《Merman AU》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ Klance.

“He’s kinda cute, I admit it…” Hunk murmured, hiding behind a cliff, timidly glancing at the human who sat on the beach, his pale skin almost shining under the bright sun, corvine hair held in a high ponytail, shirt unbuttoned. He just sat there, breathing in the brackish air, filling his lungs with it. 

Lance hummed, his cobalt tail moving as he floated, holding his face as a pink blush rose to his face as he twirled on the spot, and returned his gaze to the human.

“He is so handsome, Hunk, I think I love him!” he exhaled, dreamily, and his yellow-tailed friend eyed him, and ran a hand through his dark hair.

“I mean, you’re kinda missing a pair of legs, or he’s kinda missing a tail and gills- I don’t see how that could work, buddy.” he reasoned, and glanced at the human again, “I see the appeal, but you gotta think this through.”

“I _always_ think things through, Hunk. Plus, I’m not the first merman to fall in love with a human, you know? History is full of people like me.”

“Such as..?”

“Huh, ever heard of the tale ‘The Little Mermaid’?" Lance asked, raising an eyebrow. Hunk just shook his head, and shrugged.

“Ow, come on! It’s the story of a mermaid that falls in love with a human, so she asks a witch for help-”

“You are _not_ asking a witch for help, Lance!” Hunk fretted, grabbing his friend’s upper arms and shaking him, eyes wide in fear. With a dramatic eyeroll, Lance scoffed.

“You are so extra, Hunk.”

“Me!? You’re the dumbass that fell for a human!"

"Excuse y-"

The human on the beach must have heard something, because his head snapped up and he frantically looked around, scanning for the source of the voices. Hunk didn’t even realise he’d slapped a hand on Lance’s mouth, and they held their breaths. When the guy gave up with a sheepish shrug, and laid back down, Hunk slowly removed the hand.

Lance fell back in the water, floating face up, arms crossed as he pouted, “You really don’t want me to be with that guy, mh?” he snorted, and Hunk swam next to him, dragging him a few feet below the surface so that they could speak more freely.

“Listen, I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you, okay?”

“Hunk, come on-”

“No, seriously, buddy, just- listen. You know how many of us disappeared lately, right? I don’t want my best friend to face the same fate, not if I can do anything to avoid it.” Hunk spoke solemnly, and Lance averted his gaze. The warm sun filtering through the lukewarm sea shone on them added to the utter silence of the underwater made Lance aware of his fast heartbeat. He grunted.

“Lance,” Hunk spoke, “there are plenty of fish in the sea, literally. I don’t doubt that you have a crush on that guy, but please- think about your safety.”

“I know, I know… I just- can I talk to him? Once, at least? You can come too, to make sure I don’t do stupid stuff, alright?” Lance tried, offering a half grin.

“Holy Neptune, did you not hear what I just said?” Hunk sighed, “No, Lance, no. Don’t even try it, I’ll have the others drag you back by the tail!” he yelled, pinching the bridge of his nose, gills wide as the merman spoke, “seriously, Lance, don’t.”

And the other grunted, and swam away without another word, worried eyes following his figure.

-

Lance, as expected, did the exact same opposite of what he’d been told, and once he was sure that Hunk wasn’t on his tail anymore- literally- he made his way toward the usual place. It was almost sunset time by now, and Lance knew with absolute certainty that _his_ mystery man always came there to look at the crimson sun as it set on the dark sea, slowly falling beyond, disappearing gradually. It was stunning, to Lance, and he was fascinated that humans found it appealing as well.

And there he was, the man with amethyst eyes, sitting on the warm sad as his gaze was fixed on the burning sky. He seemed peaceful, Lance noticed with a tad of guilt. 

Maybe interrupting the guy during such an intimate moment wasn’t the best idea, Lance pondered, but also- Hunk was probably going to notice his absence soon, and he’d have Pidge, Coran and Allura drag his scaly butt back to their cave. 

_there's no going back..._

So he swam, just below the surface, approaching the beach where the human was, slowly, gingerly. His heart hammered in his chest, the realisation of what he was about to do sinking in, dawning realisation hitting him hard like a tidal wave. He felt like he’d been inadvertently caught in a storm, waves pushing and pulling him, dragging him down to the depths and back up to the surface- Lance was not, admittedly, a fan of tempests. 

His head poked out of the water, and he warily eyed the guy. At first, the human didn’t pay Lance any mind, but when he realised that a pair of eyes was fixed on him and that _holy shit, is that a person in the sea?_ his already pale complexion became ashen, and he shot to his feet with a shrill.

Lance rapidly emerged too, hands up in the air, “Calm down, it’s okay!”

“What the- what the fuck!?” the guy yelled, breathless. He rubbed his eyes, and looked at Lance once again, who had not moved and only smiled gently, a little flustered. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you…” he confessed, “m-maybe I should’ve-”

“Who- what are you?” the human interrupted, puzzled. Lance swam and reached the shore, his tail shining under the remainder of sunrays. He was propped on his elbows, hands holding his chin, tail curling up as water dripped down his body.

“I’m Lance,” he smiled, “I’m what you humans would define as merman.”

The guy didn’t seem to hear a single word, and Lance wondered if he’d just sent the poor human into shock. Maybe it wasn’t too late to swim back, the human could blame this on a heatstroke or-

“Are you… Real?” he asked instead. Lance’s face scrunched up in confusion, but that quickly turned into an amused grin, and he nodded.

“Yeah, very much. I’ve been- okay, maybe it’s not the best thing to tell a stranger, but I’ve been observing you for a while.”

“...Creep.”

“Hey! Not my fault for living here, you’re the one who stares at someone’s house like that...” Lance pouted. The guy seemed to think about those words, and slowly let up, shrugging.

“I guess you’re right. Oh, I’m- I’m Keith, by the way.” he muttered, and offered his hand.

Lance simply stared, an eyebrow up as he looked at that, and then back at Keith’s face, and then back at that hand. 

“What am I supposed to do with that hand?”

“Shake it..?” the human- Keith- explained, his words sounding more like a question, “I suppose we, huh, have different traditions.”

“Very, yeah. But it’s okay, I don’t really mind!”. He shook Keith’s hand enthusiastically- probably too enthusiastically- and grinned.

“It’s nice to finally know your name, I’ve been referring to you as ‘that human’ for a long time,” Lance admitted, “I’m sorry if I scared you earlier.”

Keith shook his head, grinning gently, “My bad for reacting like that. Though, I have to ask… Why did you show yourself?”

“Mh?”

“I mean, I’ve been told that mermaids and mermen only show themselves to humans to enchant them and drag the bodies in the depths… Are you trying to do that too?”.

Lance rolled his azure eyes, and sat up on the beach, “That’s sirens, don’t mix us up with them! Merman and mermaids are just- like me. You humans are the out of water version of us, if that helps you.” Lance explained, and Keith scoffed.

“More like the contrary!” he snorted, “ _you_ guys are the underwater version of humans.”

Lance eyed him, and burst out in laughter, patting his belly- just above where the tail started. 

“Oh, humans are so silly! Boy, we’ve been on Earth for twice as much, long before the first humans came to life,” he explained, leaving Keith baffled, “life started here in the waters, you know?”. Keith seemed to reason, and eventually agreed, apologising. Lance just shrugged. 

The loud splashing sounds rapidly coming toward them made Keith flinch and fall back on his butt onto the sand, but the merman didn’t move, and didn’t even turn around.

Four sea people rushed toward him, Keith noticed with a tad of panic swelling his chest up, but Lance didn’t seem to mind, and instead he let his head sag.

“Stay back!” yelled the bigger merman, pointing a spear at the human. Lance slammed his palm on his face, hiding the blush. The other ones did the same, features hard as they glared daggers. Keith didn’t move and brought his hand up, chest seizing.

“L-Lance?” he called, and almost simultaneously the ladder exhaled, exasperated. 

“Guys, for Neptune’s sake, stop.” he prayed, and finally looked at his friends.

Keith got a good look at the strangers when they lowered the spears, but they didn’t look at him in an any more friendly way. He shuddered.

“Keith, these overprotective people are my friends,” he explained, “friends, this is Keith, the human who was not doing anything to me and that freaked out when you assaulted him.” he muttered as if he were spitting venom.

“Lance, what did I tell you about meeting with that human!?” Hunk yelled, approaching his friend and flopping on the sand next to him, “he’s dangerous!”

“No, he isn’t. Keith, this is Hunk, my best friend of a lifetime,” he said, gesturing toward the merman with a yellow tail, “that’s Pidge,” he said, and pointed at the green-tailed person, “then Allura,” he gestured toward the mermaid with a strawberry tail, “and finally Coran.” he finished, and the guy with the bright orange tail bowed his head.

“Apologies,” he breathed out, “we did not know if you were to trust yet.” he told Keith in an accented voice, and the smaller merperson nodded along, “Yeah, you always looked kinda shady.”

Keith brought a thick eyebrow up, scratching the back of his head, “Have you been spying on me as well?”

“No, that was just Lance, but we are used to see you here, too.” Allura explained, shrugging and then crossing her arms. Lance blushed, cowering and curling up on himself further, hiding his bright red face behind his hands. Keith hummed, and his face gained a pink flush too, but he hid it.

“Uhm, alright, I guess…” he fumbled for words, not finding any. It all seemed so surreal. Maybe he’d just hit his head, or maybe he’d stayed under the sun for too long, today. It wasn’t his first heatstroke, and he had never had hallucinations, but that didn’t mean that it couldn't happen.

“They won’t hurt you,” Lance reassured, “sorry if we scared you, sorry if _I_ scared you. I’ll leave you alone, if you want-”

“No!” and Keith was indeed embarrassed at how rapidly he’d spat out that reply, “no, I mean, you can stay. This is your sea, I’m the one who should go. Shiro- my brother, I mean- he’s waiting for me, I should really join him for dinner.” The merpeople hummed in unison. 

“So… This is a goodbye, I guess?” Lance spoke softly, feeling so small. His friends glanced at him and rapidly dived back in and swam away, leaving the two alone.

Keith sighed, getting up, “I, huh, I can come back tomorrow, if you want..?” he offered with a shy smile, averting his amethyst gaze. Lance beamed with joy, and nodded quickly, clapping his hands repeatedly. 

“I’d love that!”.

Keith’s heart squeezed in his chest, breath suddenly cut short. _Wow,_ he thought, _he’s cute…_

He faltered a timid goodbye, word slipping from his lips almost soundlessly, and then walked back to where he came from, as Lance watched him go, a wide smile plastered on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a confession to make: I only read one single merman/mermaid AU fic in my whole life, it's not my cup of tea, so I apologise if this is not that great... For some reason, I managed to make 2k words out of this prompt haha.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	12. 《Lance & Allura》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

"Well," Allura sighed grimly, flicking her wrist and turning the holographic projection off, "I fear we are going to be stuck here for some vargas, at least until a new wave will let us use a wormhole." she explained, and Lance's head sagged.

He sat on Blue's cockpit floor, legs and arms crossed, one leg bouncing as he eyed the princess. Her heart clenched, and she smiled softly, trying to reassure her teammate.

"It's going to be alright," she said, sitting across him, "we have plenty of oxygen and rations, and I promise we will be out of this before tomorrow comes."

Lance's facial features softened, his eyes a bit more present. Allura knew that he didn't like being forced into closed spaces, not after the incident with the healing pod and the airlock, so she did not blame the boy for the outburst he'd had right after Coran had told them that he was unable to create a wormhole now. Lance had shrilled, high-pitched curses spat out as he stomped and grabbed at his hair. Allura didn't do much besides telling him to calm down and breathe, for she knew that anything else would have only made the situation worse- she was right, and in fact, Lance had calmed down on his own. At least the boy had not started hyperventilating- it had happened only twice, and nobody on the team wanted to repeat that. More than panicky, he only seemed mad, now.

The princess started to take the armor off, and Lance looked at her in shock and confusion.

"What are you-?"

"We will have to wait at least six vargas, and since there is no possibility of an attack- given our position- it is pointless to stay in these uncomfortable armors," she said, "you should remove it as well, our underarmors are more than enough to keep us warm and to monitorate our vitals."

Lance hummed, and after a few tics of uncertainty, he started to strip too.

They tossed the armors aside, and stretched when they were in their tight suits, finally able to move freely. Lance flopped back on the floor, sighing, and Allura sat down as well, eyeing him in concern. He noticed.

"What? I'm fine." Lance ressured, offering a half smile.

"Are you certain?"

"I am. Really, Allura, don't worry, I've calmed down," he insisted, and he was, truly, "sorry I snapped, I wasn't angry at you, nor at anyone else, I swear."

The Princess seemed satisfied with that, and offered a warm smile, "I am glad that you are feeling a bit better, Lance. And do not apologise, there is no need for that." she exhaled, "I am upset too, for I was hoping to return back to the Castle sooner. I wanted to finish the book that Shiro suggested I read, and now I have to wait!" Allura confessed, dramatically throwing her hands up in the air, and Lance huffed out a laugh.

"But, really, we will be okay. Don't fret." she nodded, and Lance did the same.

"Thanks, Princess, you're the best." he breathed out, and looked at the girl fondly.

He thought about Lotor, about how terribly the prince had treated Allura, and about how overprotective and unjustifiably jealous Lance had acted. The memory made him feel uneasy when he was in her presence. Allura must have sensed that, because she put a warm hand on his knee, and smiled.

"What is it that is making you look so dense, Lance?" she asked.

His eyes snapped wide open, and he blushed, a hand on the back of his head as he looked away, "Nothing, nothing important. I was just spacing out-" he lied.

"Oh, come on now, no need to act so shy!" she insisted, and the other paladin sighed, shoulders relaxing- he'd been so tense, that's why his shoulders hurt now.

Lance reconsidered, and finally nodded, "I was just thinking about... About how I behaved when Lotor was here," he confessed, words rolling off his tongue uneasy, "I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable that time, and the following ones- I'm so sorry... I should have just minded my own business, it must have been hard already without my dumb comments on him. It wasn't my place to say, forgive me, Allura." he blurted, blushing further.

Allura's gem eyes were wide open, but she closed them, exhaling as she smiled.

"I accept your apology, though you already said sorry plenty of times. But I accept your sincerity once again," she said, "you don't have to worry about it anymore."

"Yeah, but I don't want you to think of me poorly..." he exhaled, "I mean, I'm trying to be better. And- and I don't want you to think that I'm still trying to hit on you, or that I hated Lotor only because you liked him, or that I hated  _ you _ for liking him. I was just- worried, and I showed it in the wrong way."

"I know, you told me that already," Allura smiled softly, "you just wanted to protect a teammate, and I appreciate it, now that you made your intentions clear."

"Exactly, but I still feel like I have to apologise and make up for my jerkness." Lance explained, "honest to God or, well, to whatever you believe in, I am now a better man, and I am willing to do anything to make it up to you, Your Highness." he spoke solemnly, the right hand on his chest as he bowed his head. Allura snorted, and burst out in laughter, shortly followed by Lance, who did the exact same things.

"Well," Allura almost wheezed after regaining her breath, "it is an honour for me to hear such honest intentions, Your Paladin-ess." she said, imitating Lance's blatantly fake stance and tone, only making the boy laugh harder, "You shall start by cleaning my Lion daily for a whole phoeb..."

"Ow, come on, I can barely manage to clean Red twice a week!"

"And you will have to perform what Pidge told me you call 'Single Ladies' for me, and for the whole team." Allura announced.

"Allura, that's cruel!" Lance wailed, mockingly, and fell flat on his back, kicking his legs childishly, "I dun wanna!!".

Allura had tears in her eyes now, but kept going, trying to ignore Lance's extremely contagious laughter, "Your Paladin-ess, this is outrageous! Refusing to obey my command? I shall punish you by sharing the highly confidential pictures of you wearing that weird eyewear-"

"Glasses?"

"-glasses, yes! I shall share those photos of you with your glasses on with the whole universe!" she announced, a finger up in the air.

Lance laughed further, "P-please, don't, I look hideous!"

"Lance, be serious, you look just fine with those on! It's not funny if you agree that something's a real punishment..." she pouted.

The other paladin scratched his chin, "You think I'd enjoy dancing 'Single Ladies' in front of everyone?"

"I  _ know _ you would, and you will, since you  _ are _ doing it. And yes, before you ask, I was serious about tidying Blue up as well." 

Lance exhaled, but nodded, defeated.

"I fear I cannot possibly go against the final saying of Your Highness," he thought out loud, a hand on his forehead, "I will obey, Princess Allura. I will swallow my pride and dance for your entertainment!".

The two grinned once again, and when silence fell in the cockpit, they brought their gazes up to look at each other.

"I'm really sorry for how I behaved that time, I really am." Lance said, sincerely mortified. Looking back, he felt so ashamed for his poor behaviour, he still felt terribly. He could have spoken to Allura clearly, he could have told her why he thought that Lotor was bad news, but instead he'd acted childishly, refusing to explain his reasons properly, showing that he thinking like the adult man he was rather than hissing snarky comments on the prince and involving Allura in that mess. And for that, he was deeply sorry.

"Lance, I forgive you. The fact that you are apologising shows me how much you care, though I did not doubt it." she nodded, "I never hated you. Nobody here hates you, I promise."

And the warm hug they melted in was the most genuine that Allura had received in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Platonic Allurance is my jaaaam.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	13. 《Formal》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ Klance.

"Do I  _ really  _ look good?" Lance asked, eyeing his reflection in the mirror, nervously fixing the cuffs of his shirt. His mother scoffed, and nodded.

"You look fine, mijo."

Her son was wearing a white shirt, combined with light grey linen pants, and a black gilet to complete the look. He smoothed his hair back frantically, and grunted when it looked too flat, or too messy- and started again, for what seemed like the hundredth time, and maybe it was.

"I don't know, maybe this is too casual? Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Lance groaned, and then turned to face his mother, Beatriz, who shrugged. He just held his arms mid air, and looked at her as if she had all the answers he needed.

"Lance, mi amor, you are being slower than Rachel when it comes to getting ready for dates, and she takes three whole hours!"

"Mamá, you're not helping!" the boy yelled, "That's it, I'm changing out of this-!".

Without even giving his mother a chance to stop him, Lance was already unbuttoning the shirt, tossing it aside, and quickly doing the same with the pants too. Beatriz held her head, and sighed, defeated in front of her youngest son's indecisiveness. 

The boy was kneeling on the floor, hands ravaging in the drawers as he pushed what he didn't need away, making a mess and promptly ignoring it. 

He needed to be perfect, he needed to be absolutely perfect tonight. This was no ordinary date, no. Lance eyed the drawer that he didn't dare to open in front of his mother, or in front of anyone else, for the matter. Inside, hidden under a pile of socks and things that surely were to keep away from a mother's eyes- there was a tiny box covered in black velvet, and inside of it laid a fine golden loop, rather simple and linear, just how Keith would have wanted. Hopefully.

Lance was going to propose tonight, and he was not going to wear anything that didn't feel just right. He strived for a sober yet elegant look, nothing out of the ordinary, but surely more formal than his usual ripped jeans and oversized T-shirts.

And his mother didn't understand that sudden need for perfection because she didn't know about the proposal. Lance hadn't told anyone, and if Keith was going to say no then the Cuban was willing to take that secret to the grave.

Beatriz looked at Lance as he darted from one side of the room to another, like a tornado passing through fields, or like a tank going through a freshly mowed lawn. Whenever he went, whatever he touched, Lance left destruction behind- but if he thought that his mother was going to tidy that up for him at the ripe age of twenty-four, he was wrong. The woman sighed, sagging back in the chair.

"What are you looking for, exactly? It's unusual for you to be so stressed about this..." she asked, massaging her temples, "just tell me what you need."

"I- I need to look good, and formal!" the boy said, sounding exasperated, "But not  _ too _ formal, only medium formal, like a normal person, a normal formal, a formal not too formal but not too informal-"

"Lance, dios mío, ¡cálmate! Let me try something. Go sit down and breathe in the meantime." the woman ordered with a tired look on her face, eyes rolling as she got up. Her son, still only wearing boxers and socks, reluctantly stepped back and face-planted into his bed, groaning.

Maybe he was being ridiculous, but he cared too much about this to take it easy. He wanted to surprise Keith, to look as his best self to show him that his boyfriend mattered to him and that he was willing to ditch the casual attire if Keith asked him to- he never did, but Lance just figured that he would, at some point.

Keith loved Lance despite his looks, and it was a mutual feeling, but the Cuban still felt like he owed his boyfriend something more.

He was so lost in his ponderings that his mother's sudden presence at the end of the bed startled him, and he sat up rapidly, eyes wide.

"There you go, mijo." she said calmly, handing her son what she'd picked for him.

When Lance finished to put everything on, he got a good look at himself in the mirror, his mother hovering close, eyes shining with pride.

The black pants that reached down his ankles were elegant, rafinate like the white shirt, perfectly ironed- it made Lance's delicate yet defined lineaments pop out without giving the impression that the buttons would have snapped because the shirt was too tight. His mother had also given him a watch and a thin bracelet, nothing too pretentious, but enough to underline Lance's fine, elegant wrists. His gaze fell to the bottom: his ankles were not entirely covered and still left space to imagination- how did Beatriz know that Keith  _ really _ liked her son's ankles anyway?- and the shoes that she'd picked for Lance highlighted just how proportionate the boy's feet were. Lance's breath hitched. He did look good, after all.

"You're handsome," Beatriz reassured, "is this 'medium formal' enough for you?" she then asked, a tad of amusement unconcealable. 

Lance nodded, grinning, "Yeah, absolutely. I… I think this is it. Thank you, mamá, you're the best."

The woman sighed in relief, and approached her son, rubbing circles on his back, careful not to create any crease on the shirt.

-

"Tell me the truth," Lance said, eyeing his fiancé as the two laid in bed next to each other, "the outfit played a major role in this, and it's what helped you make the final decision, am I right?"

"Considering that your clothes are laying on the floor right now, not really…" Keith snorted, "but you looked great, honestly. And I'm sorry I ripped the shirt like that, I didn't know you'd put so much effort into choosing what to wear."

"Heh, it happens," Lance shrugged, "I'm willing to sacrifice a lot of shirts for this."

Keith laughed, and hugged his soon-to-be husband tighter, "But just so you know, I would have said yes even if you were wearing a potato sack!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I don't know what I wrote either, don't even ask. I literally had zero ideas for this, and I think it was meant for fanarts rather than fics, but I couldn't just skip a day like that, so... Here you go. [Insert unimpressed handclapping]  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN. Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories if you want. Thank you so much❗


	14. 《Dream》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

“Mamá, can I ask you a thing?” Lance murmured, twisting his mother’s hair in his little fingers as he sat on her lap, head against her chest.Beatriz, his mother, hummed softly in response.

“Do you have a dream?” he asked, and the woman pulled away from that long embrace, smiling at her three year-old son. His twin, Rachel, laid next to her mother, snoring softly on the couch during that humid summer.

“A dream?”

“Yes, for the future. What do you want to be when you get big?” he explained, ocean eyes meeting ice-grey pearls. 

Beatriz huffed out a chuckle, and shrugged, “Lancito, mamá is already big, you know?”.

The boy seemed taken aback by that affirmation, and his face scrunched up in confusion, “But mamá, you look young!” he explained, gently grabbing Beatriz’s face and inspecting it closely, “Abuelita has those thingies on her skin- but mamá doesn’t! Mamá is not big!” he observed, making his mother laugh. She glanced at Rachel, and when she witnessed that the baby was still sound asleep, she turned back to Lance, shaking her head.

“Oh, mi amor, thank you. But wrinkles are not what make people big-”

“What is _wr-wirmkals_?”

“Wrinkles, Lancito. They are the marks on someone’s skin... Like abuelita’s, remember?” she explained calmly, and after an instant of deliberation, he hummed, nodding vigorously.

“Not all adults have them. Abuelita’s a lot older than mamá,” Beatriz said, “but I am already big nonetheless”.

Lance scratched his head, gaze low as he processed the new information, and his mother patiently waited for him to speak again. After three kids, she knew fairly well how to handle them, though his first three children were a lot different from the twins. They’d been brought up in vastly different environments, after all.

“So,” Lance reasoned, “is Luis big?” he asked, “And Veronica and Marco?”.

“Well, Luis is only fifteen, I don’t consider him ‘big’, but bigger than you, yes. And Veronica and Marco are even younger than him, so no, they are not big yet. But they will be, soon. And Lance and Rachel, too.”

“But- but Marco goes on the swing alone, so he is big!” Lance argued, “why can’t Rachel and me-”

“ _Rachel and I_...”

“-go on the swing without mamá? Why?”.

Beatriz laughed, kissing her youngest on the forehead. Being the mother of such a curious and loquacious kid was a blessing, and she felt lucky that despite her husband’s negative influence on the family, Lance still managed to grow questioning of the world and full of wonders.

“Mamá?”

“Mh?”

“If you are big,” Lance pondered, “does that mean that you don’t have dreams?”.

Her heart clenched in her chest, but she kept a smile on her tired face, “Why do you think that? Adults can have dreams too. Every person can have dreams, Lancito.” she explained.

“Small people like Lance, too!?” he gasped, pointing at himself.

“Yes, sure.”

“And like Rachel!?”

“Of course, mi amor,” Beatriz smiled, a tender grin on her face as she eyed her precious son, “do _you_ have a dream?”. She caressed his cheek with her thumb, delicate touch brushing against Lance’s soft cheek.

Lance muted, and lowered his gaze, pensive. Did he have a dream? Surely enough, Lance liked to do many things, and he wanted to become many more, but a dream? He was not completely certain he even knew what a dream was supposed to be… Maybe those things he liked were not special enough to be considered dreams. Lance really didn’t know. He shrugged, unconvinced.

“And you, mamá?”

“Me?” Beatriz parroted, “Well, when I was a bit younger I dreamt of starting a big family, and I did. Also, I always dreamed of becoming a florist, and I did that, too. So my dreams came true, in the end.”

“And you don’t have other dreams?” Lance asked, intrigued.

The woman took an instant to think about it, and then nodded.

“And what is it?”

“I want my babies to be happy. It’s my dream to see my kids live a good life doing what they want. So, you can say I dream that my kids will follow their dreams,” she laughed, “does it make sense to you?”.

Lance nodded, “Yes!”.

“A dream doesn’t have to be unique, Lancito.” she interjected, “it just has to make you happy, you know? And what makes Lance happy?”.

The child hummed, and squirmed away timidly, “Cats! And playing tag! And- and building sand castles!” he exclaimed, “oh, and the sky!”

“You like the sky?” Beatriz asked, and her son nodded.

“It’s so biiiiig, and- and once I jumped and almost touched it!” he explained. He got off his mother’s lap and mimicked to jump, a hand up in the air, reaching.

“I jumped like this and I almost touched a cloud, mamá! And- and when I get more big-”

“ _Bigger…”_

“-I want to touch the clouds, and the stars!” he exclaimed, a bit too loudly, and Rachel stirred, sitting up. She rubbed her eye sheepishly, glancing at her twin and then at their mother.

“Raerae,” he called, grabbing his sister’s hands, “I will touch a star, Raerae!”.

The girl’s eyes widened, “When? Rachel wanna come, too!”.

Beatriz laughed, and got up from the couch, stretching elegantly, “You two behave, mamá is going to make a snack for everybody.” she said, and after planting a kiss on her children’s foreheads, she left for the kitchen, a renewed wave of happiness washing over her at her kids’ enthusiasm for life. She’d done a good job, after all.

-

“Lance?” Pidge called, patting their friend’s back, “Hey, Castleship to Lance, do you copy?”.

At that, Lance snapped out of his trance, looking mildly disoriented.

“Pidge, hey…” he muttered, offering a weak smile.

“Why exactly are you staring out of the window like that? It’s creeping me out…” they noted.

The teen huffed out a laugh, and averted his gaze from the starry view he was admiring from the deck.

“Just thinking about something, no biggie.” Lance explained.

Pidge hummed, fixing their glasses on the pointy nose. 

“Dinner’s in five, don’t be late, alright man? You need food.” they smiled, and left.

Lance only nodded, and glanced again at the dark mantle sprinkled with bright dots. A hand rose, free, and brushed against the thick glass. His heart swelled at the memory, and he quickly dried the tear that slipped down his freckled face.

“I understand now, Mamá.…”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some bad news for you... I fear that my schedule will be messed up, because I'll have to have surgery (nothing extreme) any day between the 21st and the 31st and I'll be k.o. for the following week. Mhhhh... I'll try to write as much as I can so that I'll only have to muster enough strength to click "post chapter" without having to write hahah. But seriously, I'm so sorry, you have no idea.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN. Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories if you want. Thank you so much❗


	15. 《Beach》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️none.

When Allura had announced that she needed to land the Castle for a few quintants in order to allow it to reboot some systems, she said that she was going to opt for a peaceful, mostly inhabited planet. The paladins had been fighting nonstop in the past couple of movements and she could sense the distraughtness and lack of strength after that.

That’s how team Voltron found themselves on planet L’oiin, most precisely on a deserted region that, due to the lack of resources, had been abandoned by the natives. To the team, it was no big deal, as they were plenty of food and water on the ship. And, as soon as they landed, that’s how they almost decided that they were never going to leave again- well, most of them.

Crystal clear water washed up on the peach pink beach, rhythmically, that sweet echo accompanied by the sound of local creatures, living silently, in harmony.

Lance’s shrill of utter joy as soon as his boots set foot on that beach caused a rapid sound of scrambling, and the little creatures that were spending their day on that beach fled in an instant, hiding. Coran had assured everyone that there were no dangerous animals there, so nobody was surprised at the sudden cowardice. The Cuban boy looked like a child in a candy store, feet anxiously marching in place as he clapped his hands frantically. Ocean eyes shone with absolute delight at the sight of the vast ocean, tears pricking at the side of the orbs, and he bit his lower lip to keep from screaming his lungs out. The others were short behind him, walking significantly more calmly.

“Okay, team, rememb-” but Lance didn’t pay any mind to Shiro’s words, and immediately stripped down, only leaving his boxers on- there was no time to go get a swimsuit from his room, the hype was too impelling for that- and darted away. Hunk shortly followed him, and the two headed for the water, immediately diving as they laughed and cheered. Keith and Pidge watched from a distance, stepping closer to the Castle.

“Hey!” Lance yelled, waving enthusiastically, “the water is _so_ nice! Come here, guys!”. He fell back and did as many underwater somersaults as he could, lungs squeezing, pleading for oxygen- but he didn’t care.

Keith and Pidge eyed each other, and then glanced at the team leader and the Alteans.

Allura had begun to strip down already, a bright smile on her face as she eyed the ocean, “Oh, I am looking forward to swimming, it’s been far too long!” she chirped.

Coran sighed, “I still remember that trip you and your parents took before the war began… Ancients, King Alfor’s legs were awfully swollen due to Uhmmik stings, he looked fairly ridiculous!” he laughed.

“ _U_ _hmmik_?” Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You know, little square creatures that leech onto your skin and sting you with their poisonous needles?”

“Like jellyfish..?”

“ _Jellyfish_!?” Allura interjected, “I was not aware that there were creatures made of gelatine on Earth! They must be delicious..." she finished, scrunching her nose in confusion.

Shiro erupted in laughter, and then eyed Hunk and Lance, “I hope for them that there are no jellyfish here, that would be unpleasant…”

“Are you not diving with us?” Allura asked, already making her way toward the ocean, “come on, it’ll be fun! Coran, Pidge, Keith- you too!”

“What? No.” Keith deadpanned.

“And I have to check if the reboot is going as it should-”

“Nonsense!” Coran grabbed the two reluctant paladins- and when had he stripped down to his underwear anyway?- and slowly dragged them toward the water, “the Castle systems are advanced enough to take care of it.” he explained.

“Hey!” Lance called, getting out of the water, a broad smile on his tan face, freckles popping out under the sun. Pearls of salty water blistered his smooth skin, reflecting the light, making him glister slightly, “come on, what’s taking you so long? My ninety year-old abuela is faster than you slowpokes!”.

Keith growled, thick eyebrows knitted in anger at the provocation, but not giving in to it.

“How’s the water?” asked Coran, gingerly walking into the ocean up to his knees. It did feel nice, he had to admit.

“It’s amazing! Pidge, Keith, Shiro, what the quiznak are you doing with your armors still on!?” he yelled, shooting on his feet, water up to his bellybutton, “Do you need Lancey-Lance to hold your hand? Oh, ¡vamos, tortugas!” he joked, clapping his hands to incite his friends to hurry, not after an explicitly dramatic eye-roll.

“Yeah,” Hunk cut in, smoothing his damp hair back, a hand on his hip as he smiled, “you can’t pass up an opportunity like this. I mean, when do you think we’ll be able to chill on a beach again?”.

Shiro huffed out a laugh, “You’re right, but I’d rather not test if my arm can go underwater, I don’t want to be electrocuted-” he explained, scratching the back of his head, “But I’ll gladly stay on the beach and relax.”

“Oh, right, your arm… Sorry, man…”

“It’s fine, Hunk. I’ll just play it safe for today. However,” he put his big hands on the other paladins’ shoulders, and grinned, “these two are fine to swim, and they _will_!” he laughed, and pushed the two into the water.

Keith and Pidge landed on their butts with a resounding splash, water up to their abdomens as they sat there and blinked, baffled. Keith eyed his brother, the look of betrayal boring through the Black Paladin, who purposefully ignored him and whistled innocently, pacing away from the water, and Pidge only grunted. Lance and Allura laughed from behind, while Coran and Hunk helped the victims to stand up, armors soaked and heavy. 

Pidge groaned, “Ugh, Shiro- I _hate_ swimming.”

“And I hate the sun,” Keith pointed out, pouting, “it hurts my skin.”

“You grew up in Texas-”

“It’s not like I lived outside in the middle of the fricking desert or something, Lance!”

“Sounds to me like you’re scared…”

“Watch it-!” Keith hissed, and quickly stripped down, tossing the armor away, clumsily advancing in the water, approaching the Blue Paladin more slowly than he’d liked to admit.

Lance laughed, and the others watched them go, a relaxed look on their face. This little vacation was badly needed.

“Oh!”

“What is it, Lance?” asked Coran, worried.

“I was just thinking that- do you have surfboards?” he asked, eyes sparkling, “Look at those waves, it’d be wonderful to ride them!” the Cuban exclaimed, and Hunk hummed in agreement. The other team members exchanged perplexed looks.

“You… You know how to surf?” Keith asked, a tad of jealousy making his heart beat faster.

Lance nodded, and Hunk too.

“I lived half my life in Varadero, dude!” the Cuban explained, pointing at his inflated chest with his thumb, grinning proudly.

“And I was in Savai’i, the waves there are seriously something else.” the Yellow Paladin explained, “we kinda bonded over surfing too”. Lance nodded, wrapping a lanky arm around the Samoan’s shoulders and smiling, “Yeah!”.

Allura’s gem eyes sparkled with excitement, while the others still stood in shock and amazement at the news.

“I do believe that we have some surfboards in the Castle. We should also have a tent we can pitch, for the ones who cannot swim.” she reasoned, eyeing Pidge.

“Hey, I can swim! I just don’t like it.” they grunted, and Allura nodded, waving a hand in a defensive manner- when the young communication officer got mad, it was best to immediately make up for it.

-

The three suns set on that side of L'oiin, a purple light dimming gradually. Lance sat on his board, floating, legs inside the water as he breathed the brackish air in, hairs standing on edge. It felt so familiar, so warm… Glancing back, he saw Pidge, Keith and Shiro sat around the campfire, while Allura, Coran and Hunk chatted on the shore, gesticulating widely, though Lance could not hear what they were saying from that distance. 

A shiver ran down his spine, the feeling of homesickness making his stomach sink to a pit, suddenly so heavy, so cold. This place- it reminded him of home. He jumped off the surfboard, holding onto it for fear that it could float away, and dunked his head.

Bubbles of air rose to the surface, tickling his face as he blew them from the nose. Underwater, everything seemed so calm, so silent, so still. Yet, life thrived, but there were no wars, no conflicts, no anger. Just life… And he wished that he could stay there forever.

He brought his head out of the water again, inhaling deeply to make his lungs re-adjust.

“-nce!” he heard a distant voice calling, and he looked at Coran, who was waving at him from the shore, “Come here, the white glutinous treats are almost ready!” he yelled.

Lance snickered at that, and waved back, “In a dobosh!”.

Maybe this was not Varadero, and maybe his mother and siblings were not there with him, but he felt at home nonetheless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I needed only one surgery but apparently I'll need two, so expect an even greater delay... *deep sigh* sorry.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	16. 《Modern AU》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ klangst.

“Heya, buddy!”

“Oh! Hunk, Pidge, it’s been a while huh?” Lance said, returning the smile that his two friends gave him. Pidge held a book and glanced at it every now and then, and Hunk snorted, elbowing them delicately. 

“Nice way to greet your best friend...” Lance pouted, “I’m offended!”.

Pidge only scoffed, closing the book shut, eyeing their friend, “I already said ‘hi’ to Hunk, we’re good.” they joked, and Hunk snickered, while Lance grabbed his shirt on his chest, and gasped dramatically.

“Now that’s just mean, Pidge!”.

Finally, the three friends hugged, and pulled apart soon. They hadn’t seen each other in a full month, and it was probably the longest time they’d been separated since middle school. Normally, during holidays and breaks, they still managed to meet often, maybe go out for ice-cream or to the arcade, but this time Lance had to go back to Varadero, and Hunk too had decided to pay a visit to his extended family in Savai’i.

“So, how did your holidays go?” asked Pidge, “Wanna flex about how you two went out of the States while I had to stay here, all alone?” they muttered, and the others chuckled.

“Well,” Hunk spoke first, “I didn’t do much besides visiting my relatives and revising my notes, honestly. I missed you two, I wish we could’ve met at least once..!”

“Revising!?” Lance parroted, baffled, “dude, I haven’t opened a single book since our last lecture. I still have a whole month before my next exam, but I’ll start revising tomorrow, maybe…” he pondered, “to be fair, I just had fun. I mostly surfed, ate abuelita’s delicious food and took long, long naps… Living my best life, you know?” he smirked, and his friends laughed.

“I’m jealous,” Pidge hummed, “I had to stay with Matt and his girlfriend most of the time, since my parents didn’t trust me enough to leave me alone…”

“You’re twenty-”

“I know, Lance! But, to be fair, I should never be left near a stove-"

“We know.” Hunk and Lance nodded, still scared after the last time Pidge had cooked and gave them food poisoning. 

“-and at least Matt can cook well, so it wasn’t _that_ bad, just boring.”

“But now we’re here,” Hunk interjected, grabbing his friends and squeezing them against his broad chest, smiling warmly.

Lance grinned too, “So, how about we go have fun somewhere after school?”

“It’s barely nine in the morning, we'll be stuck here until the afternoon!” Pidge noted.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun!” Lance grinned, “we all have a free period after lunch, so we could go chill somewhere before afternoon classes start! Please, please, please…”

Pidge and Hunk eyed each other, and then Lance, a tad of uncertainty and indecisiveness in their gazes as the Cuban boy’s eyes sparkled, his hands joint in plea, a helpless pout as he tried to convince his friends.

“Puppy eyes? Really?” Pidge snorted, “those _never_ work.”

“They kinda do… I’m in.” Hunk let his head sag, defeated.

“Hunk!”

“You know I can’t say no to his puppy eyes-”

“Yeah, Pidge, he can’t say no to my puppy eyes!” Lance stuck his tongue out, “So it’s settled.”

“Hey, I never agreed to-” Pidge tried to argue, but Lance ran behind HUnk and pressed his hands on his ears, and started humming a tune, just loud enough to block PIdge’s complaints out. Eventually, Pidge too gave in, and accepted.

-

Lance basically shove the food down his throat at lunch, wanting to leave as soon as he could. Pidge and Hunk, who were sitting next to him, eyed the boy, a bit of disgust in their eyes as the Cuban downed the food as if he hadn’t eaten in years. He noticed their looks, and shrugged.

“Wha’? I hube a’ uppetite-” he spoke, mouth still full. Pidge shook his head, and Hunk sighed, huffing out a small laugh.

“Alright, don’t choke on food. It’s been ten minutes since lunch started, we’re still on time.” he explained, “Plus, I’m sure Keith will leave as soon as we arrive, you won’t have to hide.”

Lance shook his head, eyes wide.

Keith. His ex boyfriend, the guy whose heart he had shattered in a million pieces when he was only trying to help. He'd _fucked up_ , and he was used to it, but this was different. It felt like they'd broken up ages ago, but it had only been a year.

He swallowed, patting his chest as the bite struggled to go down, and he coughed a bit, looking red in the face “Do not mention that guy in front of me. He always manages to get on my nerves, with his ugly mullet and those- fingerless gloves. I can’t stand him!” he scoffed, crossing his arms defensively as he averted his gaze, “honestly, if I had the luck to have Mr Shirogane as my brother, I’d never waste an opportunity like that. If only...”

“Jealousy, thy name is Lance~” Pidge murmured, and Lance shot up from his seat, chair skidding loudly against the canteen’s floor. The people around him whirled around, and Lance’s whole face heated up as he sat down again, hiding his head in his arms.

“I am _not_ jealous. Like, have you seen my grades? Straight As in almost every subject, two scholarships, high place in the yearly merit ranking… Plus, I got awesome friends and a part-time job. _Why_ should I be jealous of Kei- of him?” Lance hissed, “The guy dropped out last year just so that he wouldn't have to see my face, and the only discipline he excelled at was engineering drawing, so it was only a matter of time.”

“You can’t act like this forever… Plus, it was kind of your fault-” 

“Thanks for rubbing it in, I needed that, Hunk.” he scoffed, “I know, okay? I apologised a hundred times, I talked to Mr Shirogane, to his mother, to everyone- I admitted that I’ve been a dick, but he hasn’t forgiven me, and instead he started spreading rumors. _Rumors_ , at twenty-two years old. I bet the guy would’ve been expelled in frickin’ third grade if his brother wasn’t who he is. And because of that, everyone loves that mullet-man, and nobody cares about the guy that busted his ass to achieve his goals. One little fight and suddenly _I_ am the bad guy.”

“Buddy, I’m sure that Keith-”

“Don’t say his name, Pidge.”

“Alright, huh, I’m sure that _the guy_ probably forgot about that…” they spoke softly, and Hunk nodded along.

“Yeah, but he keeps avoiding me like the plague.”

“You kinda sabotaged his career-” Hunk reasoned, “I get that it was for his own good, I agree, but maybe it was not your place to say.”

“I’m sorry I tried to save my boyfriend from a job that would have doomed him to a miserable life, I shall go there and tell the hiring partner that Keith is… Fuck. I said his name. Fuck.” Lance groaned. “Can we go? It feels crowded in here.”

Pidge and Hunk glanced at each other and sighed. It was clear that guilt was eating Lance alive, and that he had tried to do everything he could to solve the situation. Sometimes, good intentions don’t get things done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had another idea for this, but I saved it for another prompt (day 27).  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	17. 《Lance & Keith》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ poison, fever, wound cauterization, vomiting.

Stranded. He was stranded with Lance. With a badly injured Lance. Not exactly how Keith was planning to spend the day.

Amethyst eyes fell on Lance’s body, limp, propped against the wall of the cave. The extraction point was nowhere near, and communications were going to be closed until the following morning. So, all Keith could do was wait as Lance laid still, face scrunched up in pain. He still sent out a distress signal, careful to make it understandable by his teammates only, but the chances were slim.

Lance murmured incoherently from time to time, but he was yet to wake up cognizant. Keith crawled closer to him, and gently placed a hand on the Cuban’s forehead, boiling, damp with sweat as chocolate locks were plastered to the ashen skin. Keith brushed the hair out of his face in a surprisingly caring gesture, and gulped. His teammate did not look good.

When the two paladins had been sent on that mission to ascertain the absence of the Galra, they were widely unprepared for the highly poisonous pointy spurs, and when Lance had accidentally cut himself- somehow, the spur had managed to rip the underarmor, just in the spot that did not have the thicker armor over it- things had started to go downhill fast. 

By the time that Keith had managed to drag Lance to the first cave he’d found, sheltered from the rain and other dangers, the Blue Paladin had lost consciousness. Keith had tried to bandage the wound, but he didn’t have anything to clean it, and the skin was already swollen and hot to the touch.

And that’s when the fever spiked. It had been so quick and scary that Keith feared the worst, but Lance was still breathing, and the night was not going to last forever. He hoped.

Lance shifted, groaning, and Keith’s eyes immediately snapped wide open, eyeing him as if he was going to break down like a crystal vase any second.

“Lance?” he called.

Ocean eyes fluttered open, so heavy, so slow, so painful. Keith’s blurry figure made its way in his line of vision, and Lance squinted in order to clear it. 

“Hurts…” he hissed, and his hand instinctively rose to the bandage arm, quickly intercepted by Keith’s.

“No, don’t touch it,” the Red Paladin urged, “how are you feeling? Are you with me?”

“M’ talkin’ t’you…” 

“You said less than ten words, so you'll excuse me if I have some doubts.” Keith commented snarkily, but breathed in, trying to calm his nerves. Lance. He needed to help Lance, first.

“Seriously, man, a-are you okay?”

“S’cold...” he slurred.

The Blue Paladin’s eyes were glazed over, red rimmed. He’d been crying and whimpering, unconsciously, because this kind of pain was something new to him. It felt like the poison was boring his veins, chest tight and heavy as he struggled with each inhale. Lance shook and trembled, and Keith took immediate notice.

“Is it _that_ cold?” he asked, hands hovering, uncertain, “I don’t- I don’t have anything to use as a blanket, but I can start a fire.” he offered. Lance’s reply didn’t come, as he’d drifted off into a restless slumber. Keith gingerly pressed his fingers just under his teammate’s jaw, and waited a painful instant until he felt the pulse, erratic, feeble, but it was there.

“Hang on, you’ll be okay…” he reassured, falling on deaf ears. 

Thankfully, Keith didn’t have to move too much from where his friend was resting, as the place was plenty of trees and roots. He grabbed a few, careful to avoid the spurs- he didn’t want to think of what would have happened if he got injured too. The armor was equipped with a lighter, and Keith was extremely glad for that, and lit the fire rapidly. Lance shivered still. Keith’s heart clenched, so he made his way to Lance’s side, and gently pulled the boy closer to the firepit, making him lay on his side, injured arm not touching the ground. The Blue Paladin seemed to be shaking a bit less, and Keith eyed the flames. The flames… Maybe he could-

“S’hot…” Lance whined, “hurts…”.

Keith fiddled with his own hands as he kneeled next to Lance, a hand rubbing his back soothingly, though the thick armor did not make it easy. There was not much that Keith could do about the poison now, but maybe he could prevent the infection from spreading and deteriorating. All he needed was to clean the wound, and since he did not have anything for that on him… His eyes fell on the fire again.

“Lance,” he called, hesitant, “are you awake?”

“No…” Lance breathed out, hissing and groaning, “le’me rest…”

“I will, but I need to do something first.” Keith felt guilty and his stomach churned at the idea, but there was no other option now, and he did not want to waste any time. Lance was already bad off as it was, and Keith didn’t want his condition to worsen only because he didn’t have the guts to do what needed to be done.

“Your wound is infected, but we can cure it if… If you let me cauterize it.” he spoke slowly, trying to give Lance some time to think and put the words together. Poison must not be fun to deal with, he figured. Lance only groaned, and sat up, heaving for air at that small effort.

“Y’wanna cau-caut-” a shiver wrecked through Lance’s body, cutting him off. He gritted his teeth, and Keith immediately shot forward to hold him upright. The heat that radiated from Lance’s body was alarming, and Keith cursed. He would have to cool him down after cauterizing the wound, or maybe before- he didn’t know.

“Yes,” Keith replied, “I know it sounds scary, and- it is. But since I don’t have anything to get rid of the poison in your blood, I think I should at least make sure that you don’t lose a limb.” he explained, words rolling off his tongue, uneasy, “It will only last a dobosh, I promise. What do you think about it?”.

Lance shook his head, huffing out a dry laugh, eyes rolling effortlessly and fluttering, but never closing as he let himself sag back and fall into Keith’s chest.

“Th’sucks…” he slurred, “but I need th’arm to u-use the blaster…” he reasoned, “pl’se be quick”. His tone was desperate, heavy words filled with pure agony.

Keith smiled, trying to boost his and his friend’s morale, offering a gentle grin as he extracted the blade from its sheath. Before heating it up, he removed Lance’s arm piece and cut the sleeve of the underarmor. When he put it on the fire, the black blade became red with the heat that disinfected it, and Keith’s stomach sank to a pit. He was going to put that on Lance’s bare skin. He was going to burn his friend, and it was going to hurt.He removed the blade from the fire, and eyed Lance, who returned the glance and a small, so small smile. 

“S’okay Keith, dun worry.” he muttered. And Keith’s heart leapt in his throat, hammering.

“It’s- it’s going to hurt,” he announced grimly, pinning Lance’s arm down with his free hand and bringing the blade forward, “I’m so, so sorry, Lance…” he said. The Blue Paladin only shook his head, and closed his eyes, breathing in slowly. That was the signal.

The instant the blade made contact with the tan skin, Lance’s world ignited, toppling over, a white light enveloping him, eyes rolling in the back of his head, a raw scream tore from his throat-

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Keith chanted, desperate, pressing the blade onto the skin, the stench of burnt flesh nauseating him, making him want to drop the blade- no, he couldn’t.

Lance thrashed under his hold, attempting to squirm away, to flee, _make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it-_

“Shh, you’re okay, you’re okay, stay with me now.” Keith hushered, finally dropping the blade to the ground, not paying any mind to it, entirely focusing on Lance. Froth and spit dripped down his mouth, a stream of tears wetting the ground under his head as he hiccupped and panted, breathless. Keith grabbed the last clean bandage he had and wrapped it around the arm, carefully, securing it before any dirt could enter the wound, though it was sealed now.

Lance still didn’t seem to be entirely aware, and Keith took advantage of that to remove the armor to cool him down. He tossed the pieces away from the fire, and dragged Lance back too, propping him in a semi-seated position with his head turned to the side, for safe measure. 

A hand rested on Lance’s forehead, and Keith hissed at the even higher temperature. He was not getting any better. Water. Lance needed water, he reasoned. Keith cupped Lance’s face gently. 

“Lance, hey, wake up,” he called, “it’s over, you hear me? You’re fine, your arm’s okay now”. Lance only stirred, but didn’t make a sound nor did he open his eyes. Keith frowned.

“You need to drink,” he continued, “can you stomach water? It’ll make you feel better.”

“No…” the Cuban finally muttered, “qu-quiero irme a c-casa…”.

Keith bleached. This was bad. This was very bad. The only time that he’d heard Lance speak Spanish was when he spiked a fever so high that he’d hallucinated- nothing that Altean medicine could not solve, luckily, but Keith did not have anything of the sort at the moment.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Please, Lance, you need to stay hydrated.” Keith insisted, and seated Lance up a bit more. The boy grunted, and whined, head lolling in discomfort and utter distraughtness. 

“Me siento como... Como una m-mierda…”

“I don’t know what any of that means, but I’m sorry.” Keith said, eyebrows knitted in worry. He noticed that tears had started to slip from Lance’s eyes again, and he felt like crying too now. There was nothing that he could do if not wait, and waiting was hard when you have to take care of a delusional man with no way of comforting him.

Keith breathed in and out, shakily, and shook his head, “Come on, just a couple of sips. Do it for me, man, I’m really freaking out.” he confessed, sure that Lance couldn’t understand him either now. He unscrewed the cup of the water pouch and pressed it against Lance’s dry lips, tinged with blue not that Keith paid attention to it. 

“Drink, Lance.”

“I c-can’t…”

“Please, man, just drink this.”

“I ca-” Keith took advantage of his friend’s open mouth to tilt the bottle and let water flood inside his mouth, “swallow this water or so help me- come on.”

Lance obeyed, reluctant, head tossing and trying to get away from that. It hurt. It hurt to drink, to breathe, to exist. His body protested at his every movement, guts on fire, skin feeling like it would peel off any time now-

Watery bile dripped down his chin, and Keith immediately removed the bottle and put it aside, grabbing Lance’s shoulders as he shifted in front of him.

“Hey, hey, what are you-”

Another gag, louder, stronger. And then another one, only that it wasn’t dry anymore. All the water that he’d managed to drink came out along with the food he had before the mission started, almost twelve vargas ago, spewing out of his lips and onto his lap. Keith avoided that mess by a hair. 

“Fuck, fuck- breathe, you’re okay, just breathe, Lance.” Keith commanded, voice shaky. Another wave of sick came up, and Keith felt like gagging too at the smell, and also because his teammate was getting worse and it was his fault for being so useless, so-

The roar of three Lions shook him out of his stupor, and Keith glanced back at the sky out of the cave. Black, Green and Yellow landed not too far, and he could see their paladins hurrying towards them.

“Lance, look, the others are here- they got the distress signal! You’re gonna be fine, you hear me? Lance!” he called, shaking Lance’s now unconscious form and hugging him tight, shaking, “You’re gonna be fine.”

-

Lance came to, welcomed by a steady beeping sound at his side, and blinked. His alarm usually didn’t make that sound. Had Hunk messed with it again? Lance propped himself up on his elbows, or he tried. A spark of agony from his arm sent his nerves on fire, and he flopped back on the bed, panting. Rapid footsteps approached him, and he blinked, drowsy.

“Lance!” Keith called, smoothing his hair back, eyeing him with wide eyes, “Lance, can you hear me?” he repeated, voice louder. 

“Yes, why are you yelling?” he questioned, hissing at the volume. Everything felt slow, yet so violent on his hurt body. The shapes were not entirely clear, slightly blurry, but each sound and light hurt him immensely, sending waves of pain that made his head throb. He faintly felt something pricking at the crook of his elbow, and a pressure on his finger, but didn’t bother to look. He just wanted to rest.

“Lance, what do you remember?” Keith spoke again, “are you seriously okay?”

“I am,” he replied, disoriented, “it just… It hurts.”

“What! What hurts? I’ll get Coran, stay h-” the hand that grabbed his wrist halted him before he could bolt away.

“K-Keith, calm down. What… What happened? The mission! What- it’s all… Fuzzy… Did we finish it?" Lance asked, upturned nose scrunched up in confusion, "Keith, did we finish the mission!?"

Keith hesitated, but gave in with a grim shake of head, "No, we didn't finish it. You... You were poisoned, but you’re okay now. Fuck, I-” he trembled, words dying on his togue.

“I’m just glad you’re alright,” he said, averting his gaze, “I’m sorry for… For what I did.”

“And that would be? I seriously have no idea of what you're talking about, man.” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow. What was Keith even talking about? What happened during that mission? Lance really didn’t recall much, only flashes of this and that, unclear, nonsensical.

“You seriously don’t remember?” Keith asked.

“No… Did I fuck up?” 

“No! No, Lance, you- fuck, you’re always acting like this... No, you didn’t fuck up, I did. And…” his bottom lip quivered, “I’m sorry. Lance, I am so fucking sorry for burning you like that, I-”

“You _burned_ me..?”

“I… Yeah, I had to cauterize a wound and, shit, you- you don’t know how you looked- how you sounded when I…”. Keith’s eyes shone with tears, fists tight at his sides.

Lance’s initial expression of shock sobered, and he offered a kind smile, hand painfully reaching Keith’s and resting on it, “Dude, I’m okay. You did that to save me, I think- I don’t remember… But point is, I’m okay now. I’m sorry you had to do that, it must have been hard. And I’m sorry I don’t remember this bonding moment either.” he joked, and Keith scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“I’m used to that by now.” he muttered, and glanced back at Lance, “So you’re _really_ okay?”

“Yeah. I feel dizzy and tired, but I think I’m fine…” he murmured, eyeing the I.V. bags, “thank you, Keith. You’re a good friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whumpee!Lance and caretaker!Keith? Yes please. I love this dynamic even when it's not shippy: I tried to keep this as "gen" as possible, since I felt like this prompt did not ask for ships. 2.5k words of two good friends being dudebros... But the Klance stuff will be back soon.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	18. 《Heart》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely, agonizingly slow, yet _too quick, I won't make it, it's too fast-_

Lance grabbed the helms of Blue, gripping them impossibly tight as he shoved them forward to the point of almost breaking them, but he didn't care, he needed to-

His Lion slammed violently into Hunk's, sending both Lions into a dizzy spin, both Paladins ejected from their seats and tumbling and rolling inside of the cockpits, screaming, hitting, bruising. As soon as Lance did that, an ion cannon was fired in the direction where Hunk used to be an instant ago, just below him- a surprise attack that the Yellow Paladin hadn't seen. The cruiser that Hunk was keeping busy sped away, and with that the intel that team Voltron had struggled hard to even know how to get in the first place. Before Lance could apologise or explain himself, he blacked out.

"...ce... Hu... you... land... now... guys... okay..?" came Shiro's urgent voice through the broken comms, but both Paladins were still unconscious.

"... hear... Lan... nk... hang on..!".

When no response came, Allura ordered to tow Blue and Yellow, struggling to get a hold of them, and finally pinning them on a planet near by, gingerly. Shiro and Pidge went to get Hunk, while Keith and Coran went to get Lance in their respective Lions, while the Princess tried to explain the situation to the inhabitants, apologising for the chaos they'd dragged them into. Surprisingly enough, those aliens, the Ghuisans, were more than happy to offer their support, and led the way to the local town hall. 

-

Lance and Hunk sat on the benches outside the town hall, holding ice packs to their heads as they gazed at the horizon, while the others discussed and thanked the inhabitants, inside. The Yellow Paladin had thanked Lance profusely for saving him, but the latter was yet to say a word, only shrugging and muttering.

He didn't feel like he needed to be praised. He'd failed. He'd lost the intel, after all. Lance could see how the Ghuisans eyed him, baffled at his incompetence, snickering and wondering _"How can a weakling like him be part of the most powerful defenders of the universe?"_

_"Really, there ought to be someone better than him for this… I don't trust someone who loses important information like that to save us."_

_"I mean, how hard can it be to find another Paladin? The universe's full of pilots more talented than that kid."_

\- 

"Lance, are you alri-"

"I'm sorry." he said, interrupting Shiro's call, already turning away to leave for his room, "I'll try to recover the intel on my own, you don't have to worry. I'm sorry."

The leader and the other team members were taken aback by that, mouths gaping. 

"What?" Allura breathed out, and Lance shrugged, "Lance, that's not-"

"I know I fucked up. Ol' useless Lance, I get it." he spat, crossing his arms and letting his gaze fall to his feet, "Sorry, I'm- I'm sorry."

"You are not useless..." Hunk said, almost horrified, "What are you even-"

"I don't need your compassion, keep it for yourselves."

His teammates eyed each other, and then Lance again, absolutely baffled at that. Where did this come from? Why did their _friend_ even think that?

"Lance, I do not understand... The very heart of the team is never useless, not at all. I thought you knew, too." Allura spoke softly, placing a delicate hand on the boy's padded shoulder as their teammates stood behind the Princess.

The Blue Paladin only averted his gaze, shrugging as he scoffed, "If you say so..."

"I'm serious." Allura said, tone harsher than intended, and Lance flinched. She cleared her throat, and inhaled deeply.

"I'm serious, Lance. You know I would not lie about something like this... You are a valuable member of team Voltron, far from useless! We wouldn't be here without you."

"Allura, you don't have to pity me."

"She is not pitying you, you fuckin' idiot!"

"Pidge."

"Sorry, Shiro, but it's true! He's a jerk sometimes."

Lance shrugged again, gaze low, "Whatever this is- whatever you are doing to make me feel any better. I don't need it, I can suck it up like I always did..." he breathed out, shakily, "Just let me be, please. I promise I'll start working on recuperating the intel tonight."

Tears pricked at the corner of his ocean eyes, but he was not going to cry now. Not in front of his friends. Not in front of anyone.

"Kiddo, no, that's not what we want now." Shiro called, barely a whisper, and stepped forward, Allura stepping slightly aside to let him face Lance. "Hey... Allura's serious, and we completely agree with her. You _are_ the heart of this team, and we wish you could see it too. You're the glue that's kept us together for this whole time, Lance."

Lance scoffed, and stepped back, wrapping his arms around himself in a self-defensive gesture, gritting his teeth.

"I always fuck up in a way or another. Even today, I... Shit. I put the whole operation in jeopardy because I-"

"Because you saved my ass, buddy," Hunk cut in, "I would be dead now if it weren't for you! Yeah, we lost some useful intel, but-"

"If I'd done things better, I could have saved you _and_ the intel. But I didn't. I wasn't able to." Lance hissed, grim, "those aliens- they were right. I'm weak, and I let emotions drive my actions. I- I shouldn't be fighting this war," he commented, backing away, the hold around himself tighter as he trembled in rage and shame, "I just can't put the mission first. I'm not coldblooded like Keith, or efficient like Hunk, or smart like Pidge who can find new solutions. And I'm not crucial to the battle like Shiro, not as combative as Allura and not as skilled in negotiations as Coran..." he finished, fists so tight that the nails were drawing blood from his pale palm, "I'm just me, so fucking slow and-"

"Lance, stop it." Pidge interrupted, "Why do you always think so poorly of yourself?"

"What else am I supposed to do!? It's not like- like I have any special skills, anything that makes me unique like you guys. Fuck that!" Lance grunted. His eyes were a sea of fire, burning bright and hot, furious, impelling, unstoppable.

"Even the mice are more useful than me!" the Blue Paladin yelled, "I mean, what- what am I, at the end of the day? You can perfectly replace me. Just look at Allura, I'm sure she could learn to fly Blue in a dobosh. What else do you guys need me for, really?" he said, long index planted in his own chest, "They were right- you guys can find a new Blue Paladin and win this war once and for all. I'm so fucking tired of being a hindrance, you think that it takes a toll on you but goddamn it, believe me when I say that I hate myself more than you do." Lance snarled, a sick grin on his face, eyes wide and teary. He ran a trembling hand through his hair, and breathed in and out, unsteady.

"We don't hate you, lad." Coran said, fists tight at his sides, horror in his eyes, "We never said that, we never even hinted what you're saying." he finished, sadness evident in his tone, "when Allura said that you are the heart of this team, she did not lie."

Hunk smiled softly, obsidian eyes so strangely warm, "Whenever I feel anxious, you're always there for me. You listen, you understand, you help me through it..."

"And I know you come into my room to make sure I'm not having nightmares at night, and when I space out during a mission you always help me to ground myself." Shiro coaxed.

Pidge nodded, "You always try to help me when I'm looking for dad and Matt, and you bring me food and blankets when I spend the nights in the lab..."

"Every time I train, you always find a way to make me take breaks, with an excuse or another. And, well, it's nice of you." Keith murmured, shying away.

"And when I feel homesick, you're always there to make sure I'm okay," Coran said, "even when I don't ask for help, you're right there."

"Exactly," Allura interjected, "when I talk about my family and Altea, you miss your home as well, but you never interrupt me, never tell me to stop...".

Lance eyed his friends, and then the floor, shoulders rising as he let his head sag. A fine tremble wrecked through his body as he attempted to keep his breathing under control.

"Guys, I..." a sob got caught in his throat, and he choked on it, raising a trembling hand to press on his face.

"This team could not exist without you," Allura spoke softly, "you're its heart. You're _our_ heart, Lance. We love you, we all do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... They postponed the surgeries until the second half of September. Good thing is that it means I'll finish JuLance in time! Bad thing is that the fact that they postponed the surgeries plus uni, the desperate search for a job and a new car, the expectations I must live up to, starting therapy after three years of hiatus and the constant fights and yellings, I feel like I'm drowning. Writing helps, but I feel like I am not getting any better at it, and I get that the fandom is doomed to die and that many former readers aren't around anymore, but I don't feel like writing about anything else yet- call me desperate for validation, I don't care, I know I am and I'm not afraid to admit it. The fact that I know I suck at the one healthy hobby I have makes this whole thing even more stressful. Long story short, I'm so fucking stressed and I fear this might influence negatively the quality of my work, though I'll try to avoid this. Sorry for the rant, I just needed to say something...  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	19. 《Family》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

Lance's family could be described in many different ways. His father, Tulio, hadn't been around for a while, but Lance wasn't sure that it was a bad thing after all. His mother, Beatriz, was enough for him, so caring, loving, understanding- she'd taught him everything he needed to know before he had to face the world. And his siblings, they were the joy of his life. They were all older than him, even Rachel, his twin, born nineteen minutes before him, but Lance loved them as if they were his age. Luis was twelve years older than him, and three years later came Veronica, and finally Marco, who was born four years before the twins. His grandmother had started to live with them after her husband's death, only a few years after the twins were born- so Lance was used to her reassuring presence around the house. Then, Luis had married a woman named Lisa, and soon their children, Silvio and Nadia, became part of the family too.

And Lance loved his big family. He loved celebrating with them, and meeting on Sundays for lunch, and being surrounded by people who cared- the simple things that made him feel loved, like he belonged.

And then, he'd lost it all.

One day he had said goodbye to his family without knowing that it was going to be their last time together. Because now, Lance was in space, thousands of lightyears away, stuck into the empty void of nothingness that surrounded him in any direction, extended beyond limits, a glimpse of the infinite that never could be reached.

Space so ample yet so tight, wrapped around his heart and leaving deep scars on it- and it hurt, it hurt. He felt sick, crushed by solitude, helpless in front of his own despair. And that's how he rolled in this bed, tireless, unsleeping as his mind raced, scanning the possibilities.

_What if they're dead? I left them to die, alone. I left mamá. I left abuelita. I left Luis, Roro, Marco, and Raerae. I left the kids, and Lisa. They died. I'm sure they died. I wasn't there. They died._

Getting up in the morning after a sleepless night was soul crushing. Lance barely looked at his reflection in the mirror as he washed his face before heading towards the kitchens. He smelled breakfast, and sighed. He wasn't that hungry, now. 

"Hey Lance," called Hunk, grinning, "how're you doing? I'm making breakfast!"

Pidge leaned over the countertop to pry, "That looks weird. What is it?" they asked, nose scrunched up in confusion and mild disgust.

"Omelettes!"

"But they're- black. Are you sure that those eggs were edible?"

"Yes. Listen, I'm trying my best over here, so shoo, shoo!" Hunk pouted, and Pidge rolled their eyes, sitting back. The Green Paladin glanced at Lance, and elbowed him.

"You look like death, Lance. Are you alright?" 

He shrugged, mustering enough strength to plaster the tiniest, shyest smile on his uncharacteristically ashen face, "Just sleepy..."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"Yeah." he lied, "I'm fine, really, don't worry." 

And Pidge didn't seem entirely convinced but nodded, and turned back to Hunk.

"Chef, how long until breakfast's ready? I'm starving! And our main man here needs energy." they snickered, and Lance did the same. 

"Five minutes, be patient!" Hunk retorted.

Allura, Coran, Shiro and Keith arrived too at that point, yawning and stretching as they made their way towards the kitchen stool and flopped on them, sighing.

"Good morning everyone," Shiro smiled, caring, "are you all well rested?"

"Looks like you're not-" Pidge commented, and Shiro's head sagged.

"He was up all night discussing plans with Allura, I heard them on my way back from the training deck." Keith interjected, yawning again.

"And what were you doing there in the middle night, young man?" Coran asked, squinting. Keith's eyes snapped open and he looked away, muttering something that nobody heard.

Allura chuckled, "Looks like we all need some more rest, after all. I believe we are allowed to take a day off every now and then." she spoke calmly, visibly tired too, "Maybe we can train for a bit, just to keep our muscles warm, and then relax with some less stressful activity, if you all agree on that."

Lance's heart clenched.

_"Mamá... I don't want to go to school today..." Lance murmured, eyes low as he dried his tears on the sleeve. His mother crouched before him, smoothing his chocolate hair back as the baby sobbed._

_"Why is that, Lancito?"_

_"I'm- I'm tired and..." he trailed off. He didn't know why, but he wanted to stay at home, he needed that. He'd been studying hard for a ten year-old kid, and that had taken a toll on him. He just wanted to have a day of peace. And his mother understood, as she offered the warmest smile._

_"Alright, I get it. How about we tidy the room up a bit and then do something more fun together? How does that sound?" she grinned. His eyes lit up and he nodded frantically. That seemed like a good compromise._

"-ce? Oh, Ancients, are you alright?" Allura called. He blinked, slowly, and noticed how the presents were all staring at him in concern, eyebrows knitted together in worry as it churned their guts too. Lance felt something wet dripping down his cheeks, bringing a hand up and brushing against the skin, and fat, hot tears rolled down his eyes that shone like the ocean under the pale moonlight. He lowered his gaze.

Allura had a hand on his shoulder, but she removed it, clutching it to her chest as she tried to get Lance's attention, bowing to meet his eyes. He blinked again, and finally looked up again.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I don't know why I..." he hiccupped, and the tears didn't stop, his chest felt tight and his legs were weak- _Dios, why am I doing this? Why am I crying? Why am I crying, now?_

"I just... I was thinking about something..."

"Was it Earth..?" Coran asked, timidly, "you always make that particular face when you...". He didn't finish the sentence, too afraid to add salt to injury. Lance nodded, not hiding the weakness that the simple mention of his planet made him feel. He felt faint.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hunk offered.

"Or... Do you need us to leave you alone?" Pidge added.

Lance only shrugged. He didn't know what he wanted. He didn't know what he needed. He just didn't know.

Shiro stepped forward, and gently rubbed Lance's arm in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture, "Talk to us, buddy."

Lance shrugged, "It's nothing, I'm fine now. Just got emotional for no reason, it happens to everyone-"

"Someone who gets 'emotional for no reason' doesn't space out and sob like that, dude." Pidge pointed out, fixing their glasses.

"Yeah, you're not 'fine', Lance." Keith cut in.

The Blue Paladin lowered his gaze once again, trembling with rage and embarrassment and despair, fosts tight at his sides as he bit his lower lip. Keith was right. He wasn't fine, not at all.

"I miss my family. But you all do too, and you don't cry." Lance hissed, "so I'm fine, let's just forget about this-"

A pair of strong arms interrupted him dead on his tracks as Allura squeezed him into a hug. Lance's breath hitched in his throat, as he eyed her, but she did not pull apart. An instant later, the others joined too- even Keith, strangely enough. And Lance didn't know what to say, so he wailed. The hold got tighter.

He sobbed, weeped, whimpered as his friends held him, and shushed him- someone's hands were on the back of his head and caressed him, and he wailed again, a choked sob caught in his throat. 

"We're here, Lance." spoke Hunk, calmly.

"And we're not going anywhere." added Shiro.

"One day, you'll see your family again," Pidge reassured, "I promise."

"Whatever happens, we'll stand by you." Allura whispered.

"Yeah, we won't leave," Keith murmured, "don't worry."

"Until you get back to your family, you have us." Coran finished, voice teary.

And Lance sobbed, taken aback.

"You are-" he hiccuped, "you are my family, too."

It was like a broken dam, because soon everyone else was tearing up too, burying their face into each other's arms as the hold around Lance tightened, shoulders trembling as they sniffled. They didn't know how long they stayed like that.

The sound of someone sniffing the air made them all crack one eye open, as they looked at Pidge.

"What are you-"

"Do you guys smell burning too?" they asked, and Hunk's eyes snapped open, comically wide as he bolted to the stove, screaming.

"Fire, fire!" 

"I'll- I'll get the fire extinguisher." Shiro fretted.

Keith rolled his eyes, "Just pour water on it..."

"What? No! That'd ruin my omelettes, you heathen!"

"Hunk," Allura called, slapping herself on the face as she sighed, "they already caught fire, they are not edible anyway."

Coran came in running with a blanket as he tried to put the fire out with it, gasping and backing away as it was devoured by the flames too.

Lance, still sat on his stool, looked at that mayhem unraveling before his eyes, and felt his breath cut short, tears welling up at the corner of his eyes again. But this time, he wasn't sad.

He wasn't alone, he'd never been. A part of his family was right there with it, and it had been for the entire time. And they were not going anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I've fallen behind schedule, something came up and I didn't write anything in days. I'll try to hurry!  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	20. 《Canon divergence》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ gore, major character death.

When Lotor had officially made an alliance with team Voltron, Lance had been far from happy of that. That man- there was something off about him, but Lance couldn't put his finger on what that was. Surely enough, the Prince had never been trustworthy before, but since he'd joined forces with the team, his knowledge had been incredibly helpful: he'd taught Allura how to connect with the quintessence on a deeper level, how to discover the secrets of an ancient power that resided within her, how to win the war against the Galra Empire. And for that, the team was grateful. But Lance... He didn't trust Lotor yet. He didn't like having him around, wandering for the Castle freely, acting innocent, talking to Allura, spending time with her. Everyone blamed it on jealousy, but what Lance felt was different, more sinister than that. 

He had the feeling that the white-haired Prince was trying to get rid of them, somehow, or waiting for Voltron to be unable to form for whatever reason. Lotor didn't seem like he cared about anything else besides quintessence, and the dawning realisation that nobody was going to believe him if he'd tried to speak up and keep a closer eye on Lotor set Lance on edge, stomach knotting painfully tight. To him, Lotor was nothing but an omen of death.

-

"The planet has already been fired upon, and we do not have the means to protect ourselves. You must send assistance immediately!" Commander Bogh said, comm glitching as Sendak kept firing on the base. Lotor hummed, sighing grimly.

"Understood."

Eyeing the Prince in concern, Shiro spoke up first, "What's going on?"

"One of labour planet is under attack by Sendak and his fleet." Lotor gritted his teeth, fists tight on the dashboard.

Lance's stomach sank to a pit.

_ Sendak...  _

"Not that guy again..." he muttered out loud, not even realising it as memories of explosions and fires flashed before his eyes, the lingering pain spreading from his scarred back, sending a hot wave of nausea up from his stomach, body trembling at the memory of the mind-numbing agony, the stentch of burnt flesh-  _ Dios _ , it had hurt. It had hurt so much. He felt his knees buckling, and gulped. 

The terrifying feeling was back, that omen of death, terror washing over him as freezing water, and he spiraled, breath hitched as he tried to hide it. His body moved on autopilot as he followed the others to the Lions.

_ An omen of death. _

-

Lance could hear Hunk grunting as he pushed the helms of the Yellow Lion forward, mega thrusters active as he he moved the plates in position with extreme difficulty. Allura freezed the pieces together to keep them in place, and Lance hurried to melt them together to rebuild the Omega Shield, torn to pieces, shattered- but it was their last hope. It was harder than expected, between the absence of gravity that, unlike popular beliefs, did not make things easier, and Sendak's fleet shooting in their direction, continuously forcing them to drop a plate and dodge, only to go back and recover it, struggling to do make the Shield operative again.

But something wasn’t right- the urgency in Pidge’s tone as they yelled something, something about Shiro focusing, something- alarms blared in Lance’s head as he scanned the area surrounding them, eyes wide and frantic as they searched for any possible menace, because if something had gone wrong in the base, then he, Allura and Hunk were in danger.

And he was right, they were.

The plates that they’d managed to assemble so far seemed to be pulling apart once again, but no, they weren’t: Lance saw some kind of electricity, some flow of energy that he couldn’t identify as it rapidly hoarded and concentrated in one single area, a white so blinging that everyone had to look away, but Lance didn’t, he couldn’t-

“Allura!” he yelled, his body moving on instinct as he shot his Lion into hers, the heavy robot slamming Allura’s as she yelled and held tight onto the helms, Blue tumbling so much that she couldn’t get a good visual of Lance. And then, before Lance could move out of the way, his world ignited of a boiling white.

It hurt, stung, burnt, and the shrieking howl that was torn from Lance’s throat was deafening- he felt his skin melting, lungs squeezing as he heaved for air that didn’t come. The lanky body spasmed in the pilot seat, and froth spilled from his screaming mouth, teeth clanking, tongue bleeding as he bit it to ground himself because it hurt- _santa puta mierda, ¡haz que pare! Dios, haz que-_

Crimson blood, thick and copper, steadily dripped from his nose and ears, the warm trickling sensation being the dawning realization that he’d been right, after all.

An omen of death.

Someone was in his cockpit now- _when did they come in..?_ \- and yelled his name, pried his helmet away and said something about staying awake, but Lance couldn’t hear them, he couldn’t hear any of it. There were hands on him, roughly shaking him, grabbing his shoulders, and then a cold azure light right on his forehead, and he felt so warm, so cozy, so tired. Ocean eyes, now dull, fluttered close, slowly, and the hands that were on his body tried to jostle him, to rouse him from his sleep- but sleep sounded so good.

“Lance, don’t you fucking dare!” yelled Hunk, slapping his best friend in the face, and then cupping it in his trembling hands, voice teary as he prayed and pleaded Lance to “Please, please, stay with me!”. Lance’s nose scrunched up in confusion- he wasn’t going anywhere anyway, what was Hunk even talking about?

The warmth coming from Allura’s hands intensified and the light glowed brighter. There was sweat running down her forehead as the Princess called him, ordering to stay awake, to hang on- she was almost done, _almost done!_ But Lance didn’t understand this either. Done with what, exactly?

“Coran, we need help, now!”

_“Hunk, what’s happening!? Hunk!”_

“Pidge! Lance is- he’s-!”

_“The pod will be ready in a dobosh, come in!”_

“We don’t have a dobosh, we can't move, Lance is-!”

_“This is all my fault- I took my hand away, I-”_

Lance’s eyes rolled effortlessly as he tried to squint and make the fog go away, but it wouldn’t, no matter how much he blinked and focused, he couldn’t see- His stomach clutched as he brought up a wave of watery blood, choking on it, raspy breaths as he eyed his friends in shock and confusion. A hand- Hunk’s- slammed between Lance’s shoulder blades repeatedly, and more blood spilled from his lips. At that point, Lance remembered that he was scared.

_I don’t know what’s happening._

“-ce, you have to brea-”

_It hurts._

“-on buddy, you can do thi-”

_I don’t understand._

“-is not breathi-”

_It hurts, it hurts._

“-much blood, I-”

_I don’t know what’s going on._

“-ce please, please, you can’t-”

_I’m scared._

“-losing him!”

_But I don’t want to die..!_

“Lance, come on, I beg you! Lan-”

_An omen of death..._

The sound of screaming slowly faded, hollow, and Lance felt like he was underwater, in the depths, his body so light, so free. The darkness scared him, but this time, just for this time, he decided to embrace it. With a last raspy breath, and the subtlest smile on his face, he finally let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose to change the finale of "Omega Shield" (6x1) because I'm mad that nobody aknowledged Lance's death- so I killed him. Does it make sense? No. But for what it's worth, I'm sorry. JuLance was probably meant to celebrate our best boy and I've been subjecting him to this pain- sorry, spacebabe!!  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	21. 《Lance & Pidge》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

Lance woke up to the sound of frantic rustling in the corridor, and groaned. Even on a Sunday, his friends just had to be noisy in the morning, didn’t they? Maybe it wasn’t Sunday on Earth, everyone had lost count after a while, but Lance still pouted. The swooshing sound continued, and he grabbed the pillow, pressing it on his ears as he grunted. The alarm clock read 4:17am, and Lance frowned. Most of the people on the team were early birds, but that seemed excessive. Torn between the urge to see what was happening and the desire to catch a few more vargas of well-deserved sleep, he tossed and turned, kicking the blanket off and then pulling it up to his head again, and even if that sound seemed to be more and more distant with every passing tick, it was still there, still loud, still so intriguing. Lance gave in with a curse.

He got up, sitting on the mattress for a dobosh to contemplate whether of not he’d made the right choice, and then he slid his feet into the slippers, finally getting up from the bed and stretching. He grabbed the beyard for safe measure, though the alarms hadn’t gone off- so he was pretty sure that this wasn’t a threat. He hoped so, too.

The automatic door slid open with a loud hiss, and he peeked, rubbing his eyes and yawning- he spotted Pidge, in all their clumsy glory, as they carried some device that Lance didn’t recognize, but that looked heavier than Pidge. Wires were being dragged on the floor, and Pidge’s steps were sturdy as they tried not to trip and drop whatever they were carrying now. 

“Hey Pi-”

“AH! Lance, for quiznak’s sake, you gave me a heart attack!” Pidge hissed, and Lance thanked the Gods that his fried hadn’t dropped anything because of him, or he would have paid the consequences for it. He chuckled, and approached the young communication officer, “Need a hand?”

“Only if you promise that you won’t drop these. I’ll kill you if you do.”

“No pressure, huh?” Lance retorted, and grabbed the device. His knees buckled under him, but he managed to stay upright, gritting his teeth as he eyed his friend, baffled.

“What is this beast? Dios, it’s too heavy!”

“Don’t drop it.”

“I know, I get it- just, lift the wires, the sound of those being dragged woke me up, and I don’t want anyone else to.”

Pidge nodded, and did as they were told, smiling gently, “Thanks, man.”

“No worries, pal. So, where are we headed?”

“The deck, please.” Pidge said, and Lance started to walk in that direction. Their rooms weren’t far from it, so it didn’t take much to reach the destination, despite the heavy load. Lance gingerly put it on the floor, grunting as his back screamed in protest at the motion, but not letting go until Pidge said that he could. They plugged the wires in, and the dashboard that only Allura and Coran used daily lit up of a bright azure light. Lance’s mouth gaped.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?”

“Uh, ‘we’? You can go if you want.” Pidge explained, “It’s just something I need to try before moving on…”. Honey eyes shone in a way that Lance knew well from experience. He sighed, sitting down next to Pidge without crowding them.

“Is this about your father and your brother?” he asked, voice barely a whisper.

Pidge’s hands trembled on the keyboard, and they nodded, resuming to the frantic typing. Lance hummed. There was no way he was going back to his room and leave Pidge alone, now. So, he glanced at the stars outside the broad window, and laid on his stomach, head resting on his arms. He’d spent nights in worse positions, so he didn’t complain.

“Lance.” Pidge called, “I’m serious, you can go back to sleep now. I’m sorry I woke you up, I-”

“I’m comfy here, don’t worry, Pidgeon.” he murmured, “Hey, huh, have you slept at all? Even only a couple of vargas?” he asked. Pidge didn’t seem to hear him, entirely absorbed by their work, furiously searching for intel and coordinates- they were willing to do anything possible to find the missing Holts.

Lance didn’t insist. Tics grew into doboshes, and at one point Lance slowly got up, slightly sore after laying on the cold deck for that time. He stretched, and looked down at Pidge, who was still working.

“Oh, are you going to bed?” they asked, a tad of sadness in their voice. Lance shook his head.

“No, no. I’ll be back soon.” he said with a warm smile, and left.

Lance ran to his room and grabbed all the clean sheets he could find, plus his pillow, and then he entered Pidge’s room, almost tripping over the things that were scattered across the floor, making moving a surprisingly hard task. He grabbed their pillow, and gasped delighted and horrified at the same time.

_ It smells like… nachos? _

He shook his head, and made his way out of that messy room, heading for the kitchens as he attempted not to drop everything, tumbling into the sheets every now and then without losing balance. When he finally reached the kitchen, he set everything on the table and rummaged into the pantry- they’d done the groceries not long ago, so he was pretty sure that there still was something other than food goo. His eyes lit up as he found a big bag of cookies, trying to ignore the fact that they were bright pink and not because they had strawberries in them- he’d tried these cookies before, they weren’t bad at all, just slightly sour, if anything. After that he opened the fridge where he’d stored some bottles of Kalternecker’s milk only a couple of quintants prior. He heated it up, and once he was satisfied with the warmth, he poured the thick milk into a glass jug, grabbed two cups, and headed for the deck again, pacing slowly- he did not want to spill the milk or break the mugs in the middle of the night.

When he arrived, he was sad to find Pidge still up- part of him hoped that they would have fallen asleep in the meantime. Lance had seen the heavy dark circles under their eyes, and how uncharacteristically slow they’d been during training in the past few days- it was obvious that Pidge was drained. And he understood, he really did.

Despite they had never said it openly, Lance knew that Pidge missed their family- he could see it in their spent eyes, in how they skipped meals sometimes, and in those long silences that followed any mentions of Samuel and Matthew Holt. Lance understood, and he wished he could do more.

“Here I am, sorry I’m late.”

Pidge didn’t raise their gaze, and nodded their head, “Had a nice walk?”

“Huh, kinda. I brought some stuff-” he huffed, and dropped the blankets and pillows, setting down the cups, the jug and the cookies too. Pidge averted their gaze from the screen, and gasped.

“Oh, wow. Are we having a sleepover?”

“I guess so,” Lance chirped out, “move your butt so that I can put a blanket on the floor-”

“It’s not necessary, really!” Pidge fretted, but Lance physically lifted them, so light and small. He put the blanket down, and tossed Pidge their pillow, grinning, “There, I’ll pour you a cup of milk now.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, I did all of this but I’m not...” Lance joked, rolling his eyes as he sighed dramatically, “Seriously, you’re dumb sometimes.”

“I just-” Pidge trailed, off, holding their legs close as they rested their head on the bare knees, “I don’t want to disturb you…”

Lance chuckled, and handed them the cup, the smell of steaming milk so familiar to both of them.

“You’re not disturbing me, don’t worry, Pidgeon.” 

He grabbed a cookie too and dipped it into his cup, glancing at the universe outside, “It’s a nice night, huh?”

Pidge shrugged, “Yeah, I guess…”. And Lance’s heart clenched. His friend’s eyes were so dull and empty, longing for something that they couldn’t get now, and that was probably lost forever. But they’d never given up on hope, and Lance admired Pidge for that.

“Pidge, listen… I’m sorry.”

“For what..?”

“For…” the words died on his tongue, and he averted his gaze. What was he sorry for?

“I’m sorry that you haven’t found your family yet… I- I know how it feels. I know it hurts. But, Pidge,” he said, gazing fondly at their friend, “I believe in you. You’re a genius, the smartest person that I’ve ever met, and I know, I know you can do this.” 

“Lance…”. Pidge’s voice was teary, trembling as they lowered their gaze, sniffling. Lance gently wrapped a sheet around them, making Pidge into a cocoon of blankets as they sobbed, silent. The Green Paladin let their head sag and rest on Lance’s shoulder, and he enveloped his friend into a tight, comforting hug. 

“Th-thank you, L-Lance…” they whispered, voice barely audible. 

“You’re welcome, Pidge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Platonic Plance? Sign me up! Seriously, though... These two deserved more screentime together, more bonding- their friendship wasn't developped in the slightest throughout the seasons :( Also, fun fact, I hate the smell of steaming milk and I can only drink lactose-free milk or I get sick (so sad...)  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	22. 《Athlete AU》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

He didn’t imagine that this moment would have come so soon, without him even realising. The dawning realisation had hit him only when he sat foot on the court, and a fine tremble had run down his spine, stomach sinking to a pit as his eyes snapped wide open. This was his last match as a senior. The last match in the team he’d played with for the past four years, the last chance to be one with his schoolmates, the last time to show his childhood friends how much he was worth. He eyed Keith, Hunk, Pidge, Shiro and Allura as they chatted, sitting on the bleachers and laughing for something that Lance didn’t understand.

He noticed Keith turning to see him standing there, and elbowed the others- they all waved at Lance, and he waved back, a chocked smile on his face.

_This is it. It’s all over now._

-

Lance hit the ball with violence, making it bounce loudly on the court's floor, eyeing it intensely. Sweat dribbled down his forehead, knees shaking slightly for the fatigue- but his ocean orbs were fixed on that ball of dull blue and yellow, its resounding bouncing echoing in the gym rhythmically.

_Focus. Focus, Lance._

The air was tense, all eyes on him as he stood a few steps behind the dreaded white line, far behind the thin net that separated him from victory.

_One point. One more point._

Not another sound could be heard, not even the usual panting of the other players- only the ball hitting the floor; blood rushed to Lance's ears as he finally grabbed the ball with both of his hands, eyeing it for a split second before tossing it in the air. 

One large step, another one, and yet another before he bent his knees and leapt, up high in the air thick with sweat and expectations, legs slightly bent as he elevated, his dominant hand- the left one- already up, not completely vertical but a bit behind his head. He felt light, any gravity almost nonexistent, imperceptible as his body was detached from the floor, and he moved his hand forward rapidly, fingers wrapped in white bandages in contrast with his tan skin- _one more point, only one more!_

The palm hit the ball, blow loud and echoing, and Lance never tore his eyes away from it, pupils pinpoint as he pushed forward- his shoulder was used to that movement and didn't protest as he used that joint to leverage the ball forward- all he needed was for it to fall in the opposite side of the court, possibly not intercepted by any of the opponents.

_Go forward, forward!_

Lance's body started to sag, but he didn't pry his gaze away from the ball as it got shot forward- _beyond the net, please fall beyond the net..!_

The whole court was silent, all eyes on the blue and yellow sphere as it flew, people on the bleachers with their breaths cut short, hitched, trembling with anticipation as the ball quivered slightly. When it reached the first line, just above the head of the middle blocker, it started to lose altitude- _no, please, not here, not here!_

Lance too was almost back on his feet, almost. He felt the air rushing as his chocolate, damp hair was thrown in disarray, left hand naturally starting to fall by his side too, but not yet. He didn’t want to move, he couldn’t- he had to focus on the ball, to pray for it to fall on the other side of the net, it was almost there, just a few inches, almost there.

Then, the ball hit the net, only barely, faltering as everyone held their breaths.

The young server hit the floor, almost tumbling as he searched for balance, mouth gaping when he saw the ball there, on the edge of the net, _where is it going to fall..?_

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on it, and Lance only imagined that each team’s middle blocker and the libero were already running toward it, long leaps as they hurried in a race against time- and the ball fell.

Lance didn’t dare to breathe, he ignored the skidding and squeaking of shoes against the synthetic urethane- he just stared at the ball as if his life depended on it. For Lance, it kind of did.

_thud, thud, thud..._

Silence fell in the court once again, and tears welled up at the corner of Lance’s eyes, but he didn’t speak, he didn’t even inhale, lungs screaming for oxygen. And the referee whistled, twice, the second whistle being the longest. The young server chocked on a sob.

Chaos and mayhem erupted from the bleachers, the sound of clapping and shouting and cheering, shoes pacing toward him, benches skidding as the people on them joined the others, and there were hands on him, yanking him to one side and the other, cupping his face, ruffling his hair- he fell, a pile of people on him as they yelled and cried, they called his name, and Lance allowed himself to breathe.

“Son of a bitch, you’re the best!”

“All hail the best server in the world!”

“You gave us a fuckin’ heart attack, you idiot!”

“Holy shit, I’m shaking. I’m shaking, Lance!”

Lance eyed his teammates as they dragged him up to his feet, and he trembled, still eyeing the referee, and then the other team- its member hitting the floor, kneeling down, hiding their faces.

_I did it. I… I did it? I-_

“Lance!” called coach Smythe with his accented voice, teary, “You did it, my boy!”

Lance blinked in shock, and eyed his friends on the bleachers- they were crying and waving their hands in the air like monkeys, jumping on place, screaming their lungs out.

“I did it?” he asked, voice trembling, “Did- did we win?”

“We did, Lance.” the older man nodded, and pulled him into a tight hug.

And now, Lance finally allowed himself to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I started Haikyuu!! last week and I just finished the 3rd season, so of course I had to do something related to volleyball... I don't know if what I wrote makes sense, I'm a mediocre volleyball player and only did it in P.E. class. Also, I might write some Kageyama or Tsukishima whump, I searched on AO3 and fanfiction.net but I haven't found anything satisfying yet, whump-wise. Back to this fic, I'm so sorry I've fallen behind schedule (again), I'm planning on posting other 2/3 chapters today to recuperate, so keep an eye on this if you're interested.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	23. 《Guitar》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.

Going to the Space Mall was always fun, and Lance would literally beg Allura to fly the Castle toward the nearest one in the system if they didn’t go there for more than a movement. Admittedly, he rarely bought anything, since he was only allowed to spend a few GACs, two-hundred, to be precise, the equivalent of $10: that’s what he was allowed to spend each movement, but he didn’t. Instead, he’d been saving up for a couple of phoebs, waiting for something worth the money to catch his eye- he didn't’ know what, exactly, but he knew that he was close to finding that special something that would have made his heart leap in his throat.

When he’d told Keith, the Red Paladin had huffed out a laugh, rolling his amethyst eyes. _“You watch too many movies. This isn’t some cheap rom-com, Lance. Just buy something or stop being so dramatic about it.”_ Lance had pouted and shrugged- shopping with Mullet was no fun.

And today, he finally had the chance to prove Keith wrong. He’d found _that_ special something, after phoebs of desperate research and continuous wondering. He did it.

“Young man,” called the shopkeeper, grinning and showing his fangs as he waved his six arms, “I see you’ve set your eyes on this rare stringed-soundhole right here!” she chirped out, and Lance repressed a laugh. 

_Stringed-soundhole… These guys are something else._

He nodded instead, and cleared his throat, “Yes, unique indeed.” he lied, scratching his chin, “Does it work at all?”

The shopkeeper’s grin widened, “Of course, of course it does, young man.”

She picked it from the shelf and handed it to Lance, raising her thick, yellow eyebrow, “Care for a try?”

Lance shrugged and grabbed it, weighing it- he thought that he’d lost muscle memory after such a long time, but his hands were on autopilot, adjusting themselves in the right position, brushing the strings delicately- that guitar was definitely out of tune, Lance noticed immediately.

“What’s the price for this?”

“Well, how much are you willing to spend?” the shopkeeper asked, rubbing her scaled hands. Lance hummed. He was used to these people’s way of bargaining and negotiating, and the thing he’d learnt almost immediately was that showing insecurity was inevitably going to get fooled. Lance quickly recalled that he had managed to save about one thousand five hundred GACs, since he’d spent some of his savings on food earlier, but he had no intention of spending all of his savings now.

“This thing is broken and needs repairing, any expert, like myself, would understand that.” he said, angling the guitar and looking at it closely, “Let’s say, how about eight hundred?”

The shopkeeper scoffed, “Absolutely not. For that price, you’d have to give me one of your arms too, to make it even! A thousand, I won’t go lower than that.”

“I’m not willing to spend more than that. I guess that you’ll have to wait for someone else to buy this, then.” Lance concluded, and moved toward the shelf to place the guitar back, a smart aleck grin on his face as he turned to leave the shop. Less than three tics later, the woman grunted, and grabbed his arm.

Lance turned around and showed his best poker face, raising a thin eyebrow as he eyed the shopkeeper, her hand on his arm, and her face again.

“Yes?”

“How about we make a deal, young man?” she asked, “Nine hundred GACs and a pinky finger.”

“I said I am not spending more than eight hundred, and also what’s with you and my body parts? No.” he said, pacing away- or trying to do so as the woman still held his arm.

“Wait, wait! Fine. Eight hundred it is. But I want you to do something for me.”

“That sounds awfully suspicious-”

“No, no, listen. I know who you are, Paladin. I’ve seen you before.” she stated, and Lance bleached. He bit his lips, heart racing in his chest. Being recognized wasn’t always a good thing, especially not when the Space Malls crawled with Galra guards. He sighed.

“What do you want, then?”

“Will you record an ad to sponsorize my shop?”

Lance’s mouth gaped. Was this woman being serious? Admittedly, she didn’t seem to have bad intentions, but-

“I don’t get many clients, but if people saw that you, a might Paladin of Voltron, decided to shop here- it would improve my incomes incredibly! I promise I won’t tell the Galra anything, I’ll just broadcast the ad in this Mall. They won’t know when you came here, and they won’t know where you’ll go after this. They won’t even recognize your face, only people in the coalition do, since you wear helmets in battle.” she explained, calmly, “I beg you, Paladin. I have a family to provide for. These hard times are challenging for my wife and I, since the Galra Empire is forcing us to allocate more than half our incomes to them. Please, Paladin.” she said, and Lance’s throat felt tight.

This alien lady, she reminded Lance of his mamá, of all the things she had to do to be able to afford he and his siblings food right after his father had left her and took everything away from her, financially speaking. He sighed, and nodded. “You got yourself a deal.”

The shopkeeper’s toothy smile widened, and she frantically shook Lance’s hand with all of her six, profusely thanking him for his generosity.

-

Lance exited the shop with his latest purchase and only five hundred GACs left. He glanced at the screen inside of the shop. He saw himself holding the guitar and smiling widely, gesticulating exaggeratedly just like the shopkeeper had asked him to.

 _“Here at Ple’nyy’s, you can find everything you need! From daily use objects to quirky products, rest assured that you will not be disappointed. This shop is approved by the V.L.D coalition! Shop safe, stay safe!”_ he finished, flashing two thumbs up.

Lance snickered. It wasn’t so bad, after all.

-

That night, Lance sat on the deck, strumming, still out of practice, and humming to a song, its title lost in the abyss of his childhood. That tune reminded him of home, of what he’d left behind and what he’d found- his family, his friends, the adventures he’d been through. 

And the others listened in awe, standing timidly right outside the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe me when I say I tried so hard to make this as non-mainstream and non-corny as I could (not that I have anything against it). PLus, shopkeeper said lesbian rights *grins and dabs like everyone used to do in 2017*. I'll start working on ch24 now, see you in a hour or so!  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	24. 《Redesign》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ injury, Klance.

Lance’s trembling fingers brushed against his cheek, the reflection in the mirror haunting and so unfamiliar. His bottom lip quivered and he bit into it so hard that he almost drew blood. Was that man in the mirror really him? 

-

There was fire everywhere, burning ground extending toward the infinite- Lance couldn’t see where the flames ended, he couldn’t see where his Lion was, he couldn’t breathe in the thick layer of smoke that suffocated him, forcing him to his knees. He coughed, lungs squeezing, and they felt so heavy, as if they were filled with coal- he couldn’t breathe, there was no oxygen there, the fire was devouring it greedily, and his helmet was gone, leaving Lance doubled over on the ashy ground, patting his chest and then immediately trying to pry the chestplate away- 

When the edges of his vision rapidly became grey, Lance assumed that it was the smoke. Unforgiving darkness claimed and swallowed him, and when his head hit the ground, he was long unconscious. 

-

The pods healed many things, but they couldn’t work miracles, especially when it came to the worst injuries, like burns. After spending a whole quintant in the pod, and another one in the infirmary with a needle stuck in his arm to pump antibiotics and painkillers in him, Lance had been allowed to go to his room, with the strict order to take it easy until the following movement. He could feel his face stinging, and he could see well how the others looked at him, especially Keith, despite one of his eyes seemed to be covered in a thin veil of fog that he couldn’t blink away- he wondered why.

Lance couldn’t decipher if that in his boyfriend’s eyes was disgust or pity until he headed for the bathroom and saw his face in the mirror. Shiro had explained that when they’d found him, he was almost on fire- the flames extremely close to taking over his limp body- but he’d omitted the part about Lance’s face. If they’d gotten Lance to the pod even five doboshes later, he wouldn’t have made it. Lance shuddered as he eyed the reflection again. 

Now he knew.

“Lance..?” called Keith as he stood on the threshold of the bathroom, eyeing the Blue Paladin warily; his guts knotted and twisted in worry, eyebrows drawn together as he fumbled for words.

“Hey.”

He lacked any enthusiasm, any emotion, and Keith fiddled hìwith his hands, stepping closer. Lance looked tired, simply exhausted. The Red Paladin cleared his throat, and gingerly placed a hand on Lance’s back. The latter tensed up, fists tight on the sink as he lowered his gaze, but didn’t do much more than that, and it was worrisome.

“Are you okay?” Keith asked, barely a whisper. Lance shrugged. Of course he wasn’t okay, of course- the Japanese man knew it, that was a dumb question. But he didn’t have better words for now; even if the two of them had been together for almost four phoebs now, Keith still had to get adjusted to the situation, he didn’t know how far he could push his boundaries, and now didn’t seem like the right time to test it.

He exhaled shakily. “We should go, it’s lunchtime now.”

Lance’s fists tightened further and he gritted his teeth, dull gaze fixed to his feet as he shook his head.

“You need to eat, love.” Keith insisted, a pang of guilt breaking his heart. He hated pushing Lance, he hated it. “You didn’t eat anything when you were in the pod, and yesterday you barely touched the goo. Please, come eat.”

“M’not hungry.” Lance stated, and it didn’t sound angry, nor sad, nor anything- it was plain, as if the young man had given up on everything. Keith’s heart clenched.

“Lance-”

“I’m not hungry, Keith. Please, just go.”

“No.” Keith hissed, “I’m not going to leave you here, all alone- you know I’m not.”

“Stop, just- stop. Seriously, I’m fine, you can leave...” Lance’s voice trembled, and for the first time that day he seemed to be feeling something, and Keith was sure that that something was pure rage. But it was better than apathy, so he didn’t complain.

Keith sighed, and grabbed Lance’s shoulders, turning him around so that he could see him right in the eyes- he didn’t expect Lance to jerk back violently, arms flailing as he hid his face, backing away from Keith. He hit the wall, knocking everything on the shelf over, but he didn’t look up, and if anything, he only hid further, bending over.

“Don’t look!” he yelled, voice strained, “Don’t fucking look at me!”. There were tears streaming down his face now, and they dripped steadily onto the pale-green bathroom rug; Lance’s shoulders quivered as he fell to his knees, and doubled over to hide. Keith was in front of him in an instant, a hand rubbing his back soothingly.

“Lance, it’s okay-”

“It’s not! It’s not… I’m- I’m fucking disfugured, Keith, all because I couldn’t- I didn’t-” he chocked on a sob, and wailed. His boyfriend kept massaging his back, and hushed him gently, his own eyes teary.

“This doesn’t change anything, Lance. You’re still you.” he tried, words rolling off his tongue as if he were speaking a different language- but he believed in them. “Your face may be scarred but that’s not what we care about, Lance. We care about your soul, your spirit, your-”

“One of my eyes is mostly fucking blind, Keith!” Lance yelled, finally letting his head up. His right eye was glassy, glazed over. The pale scar went from his hairline to the base of the neck, on the neck, the freckles that used to be there now gone. The edges of the scar rough and red, and his outer right ear as well was mangled, reduced to almost nothing. Fat, boiling tears trailed down his face, and he kept staring at the man before him, gritting his teeth and panting heavily. "At least the scar on my back doesn't prevent me from being useful, but this-"

“Lance…”

“If- if I can’t see well, I can’t- I can’t fight, I can’t shoot, I… How can I be a part of the team, now?” he sobbed, gripping Keith’s shoulders, “I will be an even greater hindrance, and- and I will lose all of you, I-”

“You’ll never lose us. You’ll never lose me.” Keith interrupted, and gingerly raised a hand. When Lance didn’t pull away, he placed it on Lance’s burnt cheek, and rubbed his thumb on it, feather-light touch, almost imperceptible. He felt the soft, pale scar- the pod had healed it well, all things considered- under his fingertip, and Lance leaned into the touch, bringing a hand up to keep Keith’s in place, sobbing.

“We’ll find a way to make this work, Lance.” the Red Paladin whispered delicately, “Most of these aliens have access to advanced technologies, and I’m sure we can restore your sight, even in the slightest. You- you can still see well from the left eye, and your right one isn’t entirely lost… We’ll make this work, my love.” he explained calmly, and Lance only shook his head, vehement, choking on strangled wails.

“Wh-what if- what if we can’t?”

“Then we’ll try something else. I’m willing to search the whole universe to make you feel better, and I don’t care how long it takes, I won’t stop until there’s a heart beating in me. I just… I just want you to be happy, Lance.” he breathed out so, so softly. He eyed the scar again and Lance noticed.

The Blue Paladin trembled, “I’m s-so ugly, don’t look-”

“I don’t find you ugly, Lance. You’re… Different, yes. But I love you, I always will. I don’t care how you look, I- I just love you.” he said, “I know that your appearance is important for you, and I’m so fucking sorry that those stupid pods didn’t heal this scar completely…”. Keith lowered his gaze.

“I just… I don’t have much to offer aside from my looks…” the other whispered in a trembling voice. But Keith shook his head, and brought his amethyst gaze up again, to meet Lance’s ocean one.

“But you do. You do, Lance, you’ve got so much to offer. You’re bright, and kind, and smart and absolutely the best person I’ve ever known in my entire life.” he said, “And this scar doesn’t make you any less beautiful, at least, to me. It doesn’t change anything.”

Lance’s eyes sparkled, and he bent over again, crouched on the floor as he cried. Keith held onto him tightly. Maybe some things had changed, but not Keith’s love for Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you thought i was going to put Lance in the red armor? So did I, then I changed my mind halfway through the original draft... What a great planner I am.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	25. 《Sharpshooter》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ open finale.

“Be careful, you've only got one shot.” Pidge warned, taking a deep breath to calm their nerves. If this mission failed, if Lance missed the target- everything that the team had done so far would have been to no avail.

Lance grinned, “Don't worry, Pidge, I'm an excellent shot.”

“...You are?”

“Yes, that’s my thing!” he screeched, and Pidge raised an eyebrow, fixing the round glasses on their upturned nose. “Since when?”. 

And Lance could clearly see that it wasn’t an insinuation, more like a genuine question. “Just get ready.” he said, and pouted. It was his thing, wasn’t it? He was Team Voltron’s sharpshooter,  _ right? _

-

“Maybe I don’t have a thing...” 

The realisation hit him not long after joining the team, and after that, it had been a constant, heavy thought that weighed on his messed conscience. He looked at his friends, and noticed how everyone was known to be excellent at something. 

Shiro was a born leader, a powerful warrior and a person that everyone could rely on.

Allura was a skilled diplomat, and she learnt faster than anyone else.

Coran was a mechanic who easily worked on advanced tech, and even the other two engineers went to him for advice.

Speaking of the others, Pidge had a way with anything electronic, and they could crack codes that had remained encrypted for thousands of years.

Hunk could work on any machine without the slightest issue, despite having studied engineering for only a couple of years.

And Keith, he was a fighter- the best that Lance had ever met, and an excellent pilot too. If he hadn’t flung out when he did, Lance would still have been a cargo pilot, and he knew it well.

After the mission at Beta Traz, after Shiro’s praise, Lance knew that he had to make being the sharpshooter his thing, even if maybe it wasn’t. Maybe he had just been lucky, maybe he wasn’t an  _ excellent shot,  _ maybe Pidge’s doubts weren’t unjustified.

Lance knew. And that is why he also knew that if he didn’t have a thing, then the team had no real reason to keep him. He knew that his friends would have objected, they would have said that he was Blue’s pilot, if he’d ever told anyone about his thoughts. But Lance knew that it was nothing special, since the other Paladins piloted their Lions too and received no praise for that. Lance knew.

And the only thing he was relatively good at was shooting: he was the only one on the team whose bayard consisted of a firearm, be it a blaster, or a rifle, or a shotgun depending on his needs, so he didn’t have any competition, nor anyone to test his abilities with. Even in that, he was fairly mediocre- he thought.

Maybe he really didn’t have a thing, and this could cost him the place on the team, and he didn’t want to lose it, he didn’t want to lose  _ them.  _ The thought of being left alone, the thought of letting his friends down- it ate him alive, it kept him up at night.

Lance had started to train on his own in secret right after everyone else went to bed and immediately before they woke up, adding two whole vargas of training to the tight schedule they followed, that consisted of one varga of combat training, one of mind-melding exercises and one of individual training under supervision. And every night, he was spent, but he pushed forward until the time to go to bed came- he perfected his aim, his speed, he learnt techniques that would facilitate the transformation of the beyard. 

And someone took notice, but it wasn’t enough. Lance felt like he wasn’t good enough, like he didn’t deserve to be part of the team. So he trained more and more intensely, and didn’t stop when his eyes burnt, when his back hurt, when his fingers cramped or when his knees buckled. He still kept going, every single night, and had the intention to do so until he felt like he finally deserved the place on the team.

-

“Lance, hey..." called Pidge from the entrance of the training deck, and Lance whirled around, eyes wide. A shot hit him in the back, and he stumbled forward, groaning.

“End training sequence.” he called, and looked at his friend, “Hey, why are you up already?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” the Green Paladin retorted, and Lance rolled his eyes.

“Training, as you can see.” he explained, “And you?”

“Training? At...” Pidge checked their holographic watch, “ten to six in the morning?” they finished.

Lance gasped, and ran a hand through his sweaty hair, “Fuck, I only got ten minutes left and I still have to repeat this level- Pidge, can we talk later?”

The youngest didn’t move, and crossed their arms, raising a suspicious eyebrow. They scanned Lance from head to toe, not missing his rough eyes, his crooked posture and his armor, clearly put on in a hurry. He didn’t look good.

“Have you, huh, slept at all?”

“Yes, I did. Are you done with the third degree!?” he snapped, and then immediately fumbled for apologies, rubbing his face as he sighed. Pidge’s heart clenched.

“Lance,” they called, approaching him, “what’s up with you lately? You’ve been awfully… not you, in the past movements. Is everything alright?”

Lance only nodded, and dug his thumbs into his eye-sockets, sighing loudly in relief as that provided a slight comfort. “M’fine, just wanna improve a bit, that’s all.” he explained, truthfully, “I have to do this before you all wake up and after you go to bed, I don’t-”

“You do this at night too!? Lance.”

“Pidge.” he mimicked, and sighed once more, “Listen, I really gotta finish this level now, we can discuss later, ‘kay?”

“No, we’re doing this now.” Pidge hissed, and grabbed his shoulders, “How long have you been training like this? Is- is this why you’ve become so weird since some movements ago? It’s been, like, two whole phoebs..!”

Lance shrugged. He hadn’t noticed anything different in his behaviour.

“Man, no. What the fuck are you doing to yourself?”

“You say it like I’m doing something bad-”

“You are! Lance, even  _ I  _ know we all need to rest, and you’re training yourself to the brink of exhaustion for no reason.” they yelled, “This is not okay, Lance. This is so fucking wrong.”

“I’m not doing this ‘for no reason’, though. I gotta be better, so I’m training harder. Isn’t it what we all do?” he asked, sincerely shocked at Pidge’s unnecessary complaints. His facial features were hard, and Pidge almost felt the urge to back away, but didn’t.

“Why do you have to ‘be better’? You’re already good enough, Lance. Seriously, is this some sort of, I don’t know, self-esteem thing-y? I suck at this, but you can talk to Shiro-” they stopped as Lance’s shoulders trembled, a disturbing grin on his face as he huffed out a laugh. So they didn’t know, they didn’t understand. He chuckled.

The two heard rapid footsteps approaching, and turned around to see the whole team standing there, a confused looks on everyone’s face as they eyed Lance, then Pidge, and Lance again. Shiro stepped forward, eyebrows knitted in worry.

“We heard yelling. Is everything okay?” he asked.

Lance nodded, but Pidge spoke before he could add anything, “This idiot here has been doing secret training sessions for two whole phoebs, twice a quintant because he has to ‘be better’. Yell some sense into him, for fuck’s sake!”

Shiro eyed Lance. “Is it true?”

He shrugged, and the older man hissed. Hunk, Keith, Allura and Coran all stepped forward too, and soon they were all near Lance and Pidge. The Blue Paladin averted everyone’s gaze: the last thing he ever wanted was to draw any attention, since it only brought pity along.

“Why?” Shiro continued, and after another shrug by Lance, he sighed once more. “Lance, answer the question. Why are you training so hard? I mean, we all appreciate the dedication, but this is too much, kiddo.”

Lance’s lips quivered. Maybe he should tell them, after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 11:59pm of the 24th here, so I officially fixed my super messed up schedule *jumps and stops in midair like in 90s movies' endings* I'll post up to ch28 before tomorrow ends, but now I'll go finish Haikyuu!! because I want to start Jojo's bizarre adventures too.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	26. 《Lance & Shiro》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️mentions of Kuron.

Back when Lance was still at the Garrison, he used to dream of shaking his hero’s hands, of being invited by him to fly together, of that man he’d admired for so long to even only call Lance’s name. Whenever he was walking through the corridors at the academy, he used to keep his back straight and face serious, for fear- and hope- that Takashi Shirogane was going to walk that same path too, and notice Lance, so well-behaved and trustworthy. And Lance had never stopped fantasizing about that, rehearsing the lines in his head, practicing the handshake in front of the mirror- Hunk found it funny, but never pointed it out.

However, one day, everyone was given the news about the unsuccessful mission that had been the one on Kerberos, and Lance’s heart had broken into a million pieces. Takashi Shirogane, the most talented pilot that the Garrison had ever formed, his hero- he was dead. Lance had lost any hope to meet him, naturally, and with Shiro’s departure, Lance’s motivation was mostly gone too. They said “never meet your idols”, but he still wished he'd been given a chance to choose by himself. 

And then, one day, Lance had seen his hero fall before his eyes. Quite literally, actually. He remembered as he eyed the screen in disbelief, Shiro strapped to a table as he squirmed under the restraints, and he looked so tired, so- different. Everything about that man screamed fear, agony, terror. The stone-cold hero that Lance knew, he was gone. 

_ "I should- thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?"  _ Shiro had said, offering Lance his hand to shake- his prosthetic one, to be precise. Lance had gulped, eyes wide in shock, but he did anyway, and offered a bright smile in return. The whole situation had freaked him out beyond imagination, but he wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity like this. Because he’d finally met Shiro, he’d finally talked to him, he’d smiled at him, and Shiro had done the same, unbothered by the different rank, unbothered by the fact that Lance, compared to him, was still a child. He’d treated him as an equal, and the young cadet’s heart had filled with unimaginable joy.

-

_ “We can’t plan an operation this important so quickly.”  _ Allura had said then, eyeing Shiro with a tinge of anger in her gem eyes.

_ “We don’t have a choice.”  _ he'd replied, flat. Lately, Shiro had rarely expressed any emotion besides anger and apparent uninterest, and this was deeply unusual and destabilizing, but nobody had ever dared to point it out. 

Lance had gulped and stepped forward, sweating.  _ “I’m with Allura, we need time to think this over…”  _

_ “Lance, this is not your call.” _ Shiro had hissed at that, scowling at him, silencing Lance, fists tight, nails almost drawing blood from the palms. He was right, it wasn’t his place to say. After all, Shiro was still the commanding officer, and Lance was just a cadet. After all they’d been through, Lance was still just a simple cadet. 

_ “Allura, the coalition wouldn’t be where it is right now without Lotor. We need to listen to him…” _ the man had continued.

Lance had lost track after that, only snapping back into focus when he heard the man raising his voice drastically, too much for the current Red Paladin’s liking. He knew that Allura wasn’t in danger, he knew that Shiro would have certainly never attacked her, but-

_ “Shiro, we’re all on the same side here-”  _ he’d tried. And Shiro’s eyes had lit up in flames, and Lance noticed an unusual tinge of yellow and purple faltering in his usual obsidian iris. He'd stepped back on reflex as the man took a step forward, hissing as he yelled at him. 

_ “I told you to stay out of this!”  _ the man had growled, and Lance’s stomach had sunk to a pit, blood icy.

Right. It wasn’t his place to say, again. A cadet. He was just a cadet.

-

Looking back at those times, Lance wished that he’d done something sooner. Now, Shiro- their Shiro- was back, finally himself again after only God knew how long, free of Haggar’s control, out of the death clutch that she had on him. Shiro-  _ Kuron _ had purposefully torn the team apart, sown discord and hurt them. Physically too, when it came to Lance, and not only that time that the clone had thrown him into a wall. He’d done worse things, maybe less painful, but still incredibly worrying, things that Lance had never brought up again, with anyone. He didn’t need to. That thing wasn’t Shiro, it wasn’t his hero, it was just a copy, just a puppet-  _ it wasn’t him, it wasn’t him. _

“Hey Lance,” the man called, sitting next to him on the couch and handing him a drink, “enjoying the day?”

Lance grabbed the cup, smiled brightly, and nodded. However, an instant later his expression fell as his mind went back to those dark times, haunting. The team had risked to lose Shiro, their leader, their friend, the universe’s hero  _ again  _ without even knowing it: it made Lance sick to his stomach, the thought enough to send him spiraling. The grip on the cup was unsteady, and Shiro noticed, gently rubbing Lance’s back.

“You look like you’re about to pass out, kiddo. What’s bothering you?” he asked in concern, white eyebrows knitted together. Lance only shook his head, breathing in and out slowly, trying to compose himself- he didn’t want to explain that simple memories were enough to hurt him like that.

“I just… I was thinking about when you- when  _ he  _ was here.” Lance whispered, shaking, “I don’t know why I’m even thinking about it now of all times, it’s- it’s stupid.”

“Hey, it’s not.” Shiro cooed gently, offering a warm, sympathetic grin. “I, huh, I don’t know what I- what that thing did, but from the little things I’ve been told, I know it was bad. And I’m sorry it traumatised you like this. I really am, Lance.” 

Lance’s eyes snapped open, and he shook his head, hands slightly up in the air as he waved them too, “No, no, you don’t need to apologise! I know it wasn’t you, I know, I’ve never- I wouldn’t even  _ think  _ about it!”. His cheeks tinged in pink and he lowered his gaze, embarrassment taking over him. “I’m sorry that  _ you  _ had to go through that, Shiro. You definitely had it worse, I shouldn’t even complain...” he finished. 

Shiro shrugged, patting Lance’s back with a fatherly expression on his face, “Well, let’s just say that we both had a very bad experience, then. But yours isn’t less valid than mine, alright? I’m serious on this, kiddo. Life isn’t a race of ‘who has more trauma’, luckily.” the man chuckled, “And since it’s over now, we can talk about it with a bit of, huh, distance and tranquility. The war’s over, we won… We’re allowed to take time and elaborate what happened so far.”

Lance’s mouth gaped, eyes sparkling in front of Shiro’s incomparable wisdom. Lance felt tears pricking at the corner of his ocean eyes, and his lips quivered. It didn’t matter if they’d fought side by side, as equals, for more than two decaphoebs, it didn’t matter that Shiro had left that kind of life behind already, it didn’t matter, because Lance still saw him as his hero. He flashed a big smile, tears freely streaming down his face, cheeks slightly red. 

“Despite everything we’ve been through, I’m happy that I got the chance to meet my hero of a lifetime.” Lance started.

Shiro brought an eyebrow up, genuinely confused. “I thought you and Keith were rivals..?”

“What- no, no! I mean, Keith and I used to sorta hate each other, but-” Lance groaned, “Shiro, I meant you. You’re my hero, you’ve always been!” he finished, chuckling. And Shiro’s eyes sparkled with tears and thrill. 

After all the pain he’d caused, after he’d shown his other side- willingly or not- and after he’d disappeared and left them alone too… Lance still considered him to be his hero. Before he could control it, his strong arms wrapped around the lankier man, and he squeezed him into a tight hug, feeling Lance patting his back delicately. 

“Thank you, Shiro.”

“No, thank  _ you,  _ Lance. You are the real hero here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly didn't want this to be Langst but shit happened: to put it simply, I decided to keep the idea I had for another fic, and yes, it's whumpee!Lance & caring!Shiro... Duh, you know me. Ugh, I can't wait to write that fic plus the Lance & Kuron fic I said I was going to write, like, back when I was still doing [29 Days of Whump (LANGST)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22517551/chapters/53807359) ..! For now, have this: consider it a sort of, huh, warm-up.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	27. 《AU of choice》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ Hunay, hinted Klance.

There hadn’t been many clients today, so far, and Lance was starting to get extremely bored. Surely enough, it was because everyone was probably at work now, and nobody had time to take a break there, and also the place was relatively small, but still-

The bell placed above the entrance door ringed, and Lance straightened up, adjusting the azure cap on his head. The client approached him, and Lance offered his warmest smile.

“Welcome to _Altea Cafe,_ sir, what can I get you today?” Lance chirped out, standing behind the cashier’s desk and fiddling with his hands.

“You don’t have to say that every single day, dude.” 

“I do, Hunk, that’s my job! Now order something or shoo.” Lance rolled his eyes, and his friend chuckled. 

He scratched the back of his head, and looked up to the menu above the register, humming. “I’ll have a, huh, a cappuccino and, mh, a chocolate cupcake, please.” he said.

Lance typed onto the register as he nodded along, “That’ll be $3.90.” he said, and grabbed the money. Lance gave Hunk his receipt, and flashed a gentle grin, “Your order will be coming right up!”

The bigger man returned the smile and sat down- all of the other tables were free, and he looked around, a thick eyebrow up. “Not many clients today, huh?”

Lance, who was preparing the cappuccino, shrugged, “They’ll probably arrive in a couple of hours or so, but the cafe’s been admittedly empty lately.” he sighed. “And what about you, Hunk? Enjoying paternity leave?” 

The man nodded, eyes sparkling, and he threw his hands up in the air, “Man, it’s amazing! Shay and I can cuddle all we want- when Kale isn’t crying, that is. But it’s wonderful, I’ve never been happier.” he chirped out, “I can’t believe that I have to go back to work next week, I’m so not looking forward to that...”

Lance chuckled, and arrived with the tray, placing his friend’s order on the table delicately, “There you go, buddy.” he said. The two men turned around as they heard the managers’ room opening, and waved. “Hi, Allura...”

“Oh! Hunk, hello,” she waved back, grinning, “I just came here to warn Lance that we’re closing the shop from tomorrow until next week-”

“Why?” Lance gasped, “Is it because we don’t have clients?”

The woman’s shoulders sagged, “Well, yes and no. There’s a problem with the electrical system, I already called Pidge’s crew and they’ll come tomorrow to fix the problem. Plus, it’s pointless to remain open now, given the current situation. I’m also thinking about doing an early closure if nobody else comes in the next two hours.” she said.

Lance nodded, grim, “I understand. But, that florist guy is coming in…” he checked his watch, “three hours or so. You know, for those new plants you ordered-”

“Oh, you’re right… Well, I can-”

“No!” Lance hurried, blushing slightly, “I, huh, I mean, I can wait for him, if you trust me with that. It’s not a problem for me, I got nowhere to go after work anyway…” he explained, scratching his forehead and averting his ocean eyes. Hunk grinned, and elbowed him.

“Are you certain?” the woman asked, eyebrows knitted in concern. He only nodded.

“Don’t worry about it, Allura. I’m sure that your uncle would appreciate if you paid him a surprise visit, after all.” he grinned.

Allura’s gem eyes lit up, and she nodded, clapping her hands. “You’re right, I’ll go see uncle Coran later, then. Thank you, Lance.” she smiled. She turned around to leave, but then spared Lance another look, “Oh, since there are no clients, you can take this opportunity to have your break, if you want. Just be sure to be ready if anyone comes, I trust you on this.” she said, and went back to the managers' room.

Lance’s mood changed rapidly as he nodded and jumped on the spot, fists tight as his sides as he grinned. Hunk’s heart filled with joy in seeing his friend so happy, after all the unpleasant things that life had put him through.

“I have time to get ready before Keith arrives. This time I won’t have a dirty apron on, fuckin’ finally!”

“ _Keith_ huh?” Hunk smirked, “what happened to ‘that florist guy’?”

“Hunk!”. Lance’s cheeks tinged in red as he hid his freckled face, trembling. He composed himself quickly, inhaling and exhaling slowly as he eyed his friend with a pout.

“Isn’t Shay waiting for you or something?”

“Are you throwing me out? Rude.” Hunk stuck his tongue out, “But you’re right, I should head back. I’ll bring her something, though.”

Lance nodded and led the way toward the counter. While Hunk decided, the barista washed his hands and put the gloves on, picking up the clamps and snapping them together, “So, what can I give you, sir?”

“I haven’t decided yet, _sir._ ” he muttered, “Shay’s been craving donuts for a couple of days already so, mh, I’ll take one jelly donut… Then, huh, one with chocolate and one with vanilla cream, please.”

Lance smiled and put the food in the paper bag, handing it to Hunk. After paying and tipping Lance, the man smiled and left, yelling “Goodbye Allura!” on his way out.

Allura left shortly after, giving Lance the necessary recommendations and indications before heading to her uncle’s house. And that’s when Lance started to panic. 

He was going to be alone with Keith for the first time ever. Just the two of them, closed inside that little cafe, and Lance was going to have to look at him attentively- he felt his heart leaping in his throat. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do this anymore.

When the bell above the entrance door rang, Lance hoped that it was another client, just someone that wanted to get a coffee and-

“Hello, I’m the florist from _Daibazaal’s Garden._ Lance, right?” the guy called, offering a hand for him to shake. And the young barista completely froze, lovestruck.

-

The guy- Keith- left a hour later, circa. Lance looked at him speeding away in the flower shop van, eyes wide, chest heaving. He lowered his gaze to stare at the piece of thin paper, ten digits written on it with smudged ink. He smiled, ears heating up.

_Hunk's certainly going to love the news._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, I'm basic™ and I don't regret it.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN ❗ Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories if you want. Thank you so much.


	28. 《Birthday》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none, because it's his birthday and I'm not a monster.

“Music?”

“Check.”

“Balloons?”

“Check.”

“Snacks and drinks?”

“Check.”

“Cake?”

“Checkity-check.” 

Allura rubbed her hands, satisfied, and looked around the deck, Shiro still eyeing the list to check if everything was really ready. The room had been decorated for the special occasion, and although it hadn’t been easy to do everything in great secret, it was absolutely worth it. Alteans too celebrated birthdays, so when Hunk had told the Princess and Coran that Lance’s birthday was coming up, they’d immediately jumped into action. The others didn’t know about that either, but since Hunk had warned them all with enough notice, they’d managed to gather everything they needed to throw a proper birthday party.

After all, it was the first birthday that was going to be celebrated since they’d been part of the team, and failing wasn’t an option here. They all knew how Lance would have never brought it up- Team Voltron had learnt soon that Lance was loud, yes, but not when it came to his needs and desires- so they decided to lower his expectations to make the surprise even better. 

Keith was reluctant to take part in that, at first, mostly because he wasn’t good at keeping that kind of secret. He could lie to the enemy without flinching, ready to take whatever punishment, but to his friends- he was like an open book. Every time he crossed Lance in the corridors, his lips would quiver in an awkward smile, no matter how hard he tried to avert his amethyst gaze. Lance was mildly confused, but he’d never even dared to question the sudden change of behaviour, Keith was probably going to yell _“None of your business, Lance.”_ or something, he figured.

The morning of the twenty-eighth of July, or what they calculated should have been that day, technically, everyone had woken up early, silent and swift as foxes and they met on the deck. They didn’t need to discuss anything, for they’d already planned every little detail ahead.

Pidge was in charge of the music and of the stereo implant, and Coran helped them set up the huge subwoofer- or, its Altean equivalent, anyway- testing it with the lowest volume possible for fear that Lance was going to wake up. Then, Hunk was in charge of the food: he’d already prepared all the ingredients he needed, and now he was finally adding the latest details to the cake, delicately putting the blue-icing where he thought it looked the best. Also, he’d asked Shiro to sneak out and grab some snacks too from where the Yellow Paladin had hid them- food was never safe around Lance, and he knew better than leaving tasty treats out in the open. Shiro was also in charge of patrolling in front of the deck, in case Lance came in before planned; he’d already made up plenty of excuses in case that happened- _“Sorry, but you can’t go in, there’s a huge problem with the system and Hunk, Pidge and Coran are fixing it. It’s dangerous, I’m staying outside for that reason, too.”_ or _“I thought that you and Keith were going to train today. Isn’t he with you? Geez, maybe he’s sick. Go look for him, please.”_

Allura was responsible for the decorations: she’d set up plenty of balloons, and since she had the best calligraphy among them all, she’d made a huge birthday banner and, with the help of Keith, they’d set it up where everyone that stepped into the deck could see it.

Lance was going to wake up soon, so they didn’t have much time left. Pidge and Coran simultaneously flashed two thumbs up, and grinned widely.

“Stereo implant and playlists are a go!”

“The cake’s ready too, I just hope that it won’t melt.” Hunk fretted.

“And now?” asked Keith, genuinely confused.

“Now we wait.”

-

The alarm rang next to Lance’s bed, and he lazily brought a hand up only to slam it down onto the hateful device. He groaned, planting his palms into the eye sockets and pressing down slightly. Ocean eyes blinked open, rapidly adjusting to the teal light in the room, and he stretched, still lying down. Then, it clicked.

It was that day, wasn’t it? He sat up, and rummaged through the scattered objects on his bedside table, and when he found the palmtop that Pidge had given each of them, he immediately searched for the calendar. It read _July 28._ He grinned; it really was that day.

Joy got quickly replaced with sorrow as something snapped, the realisation dawning and haunting, blood turning into ice as Lance realised that it was his first birthday away from home, his first birthday without his family, his first birthday that his family celebrated without him, maybe wondering if he was still alive out there. He choked on a sob, but got up anyway to get ready. Glancing at his reflection, he sighed. He’d been away only for two or three phoebs, and the Gods knew how much more time he was going to spend in space… And yet, he was already feeling homesick, he’d been since the very first movement, to be fair. Today was going to be harder than what he’d imagined.

-

“Hunk?” he called, passing in front of his friend’s room, banging on the door, “Dude, wake up. We have that mind-melding thingy today, we can’t be late.”

When no reply came, Lance scratched the back of his neck, groaning, “If I get yelled at for being late because I have to wait for you, I’ll never lend you my face cream again! Hunk, you hear me?”

Again, only silence followed, and Lance decided to take action. He overrode the door, and stepped in only to find the room completely empty, no sign of Hunk anywhere. Lance even pried inside of the bathroom, empty too. His stomach clenched in worry.

He glanced at the time, scared that maybe he was the one to have overslept- but no, he still had a few doboshes, he was perfectly on time. Had Hunk woken up earlier than usual? Was he alright? 

Lance didn’t even realise he’d left the room until he arrived in the deck’s corridor, and heard an unusual rustling sound coming from the inside, followed by light and rapid footsteps and whispers that he couldn’t decipher. He bleached.

Had the Castle been breached? Had the Galra found them and taken his friends as hostages? His mind raced, and he quickly ran back to his room, grabbing the bayard only to leave for the deck again, pacing rapidly as the grip on the blaster tightened. He scanned the surrounding area for enemies, but nobody seemed to be there so he didn’t stop, determined to trap the enemies inside the deck and neutralise the threat there, without letting them reach more secret areas of the Castle. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead as he stood in front of the deck’s door, taking deep breaths. 

_I can do this. I can do this._

He took a couple of steps forward, and the automatic doors slid open before his eyes. He catapulted himself into the room while a battle cry tore from his throat, he aimed and-

“Uhm… Surprise?” Hunk said, timidly, hands up in the air as his knees buckled. Lance blinked once, and then again. He warily eyed all the presents in the wide room: everyone was there, but why, why were they-

He glanced at the banner that read _“Happy Eighteenth Birthday to our Favourite Sharpshooter!”_ in a vibrant blue, and then at the cake and food on the table, at Pidge and Coran who were crouching next to what looked like a stereo implant, to the balloons, some floating, some scattered on the floor.

“Guys..?” he murmured, eyes wide in shock and disbelief. The others exchanged amused looks, and then looked back at their startled friend. Lance’s heart filled with joy.

“Happy birthday, Lance!!” they chanted, clapping and whistling, cheering for him. And Lance cried. He had a family there too, a family who loved and cherished him more than he believed. The hug he was enveloped in was warm and tight, so reassuring, just what he needed. Lance felt at peace.

_Today isn't going to be that bad, in the end..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LANCE, I LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH, YOU DESERVE THE WORLD, BABY-  
> 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN ❗ Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories if you want. Thank you so much.


	29. 《Home》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ quotes from the previous chapters ("Garrison", "Heart", "Family").

Home. A word with many different meanings, capable of eliciting different emotions, with many synonyms, each of them unique in its own way.

Lance remembered well when he, his mother, his twin sister and Marco- the third-youngest- had to move from Varadero to Nebraska, back when he was ten years old. His sister Veronica had been living there for some years already, since she’d enrolled in the Galaxy Garrison, and she’d found her mother a good job, much more profitable than the job as a florist she had in Cuba. Lance’s father, he’d taken everything away from her, and so she had to start again. The change was for the better, but Lance and his siblings still struggled to adjust to the new life.

Nebraska was colder than what they’d expected, and although they had all been raised to be bilingual, given their mother Beatriz’s American origins, the sudden change from their native language to one that they used to speak so rarely was a shock for the kids. Then, the fact that they had been forced to leave their childhood friends behind, change school, learn how to cope with the crushing need to not be a burden- it had been tough.

-

Even when he’d been living in Nebraska for almost three whole years, he still considered Varadero to be his forever home. His memories, affections, they were all there in Cuba, and he was far, far away. His heart shattered at the thought that he was probably going to go back only after becoming an adult- and for a fourteen year old, that seemed like a lot of time.

Then, he’d enrolled in the Garrison too. Seeing the stars from up close had always been a dream of his, and wasting the perfect opportunity seemed foolish; with his mother’s new rewarding job, and the little money that he’d managed to make by running errands for his neighbors and teaching Spanish to their kids in his spare time, he finally had enough money to make his dream come true.

-

The day of leaving for the Garrison came. Lance remembered standing out of the car as his mother loaded his luggage and bags. The sun was pale, clouds gray and he’d glanced up at the sky, wondering why did it have to be so cold in September, too. Marco and Rachel simply stared from the window, eyeing him with what he interpreted as hate, boiling tears at the corner of their ocean eyes. And Lance knew why. Because he was leaving them alone, he was leaving his own mother, and his home. _Again._ He was leaving home for the second time in his life, and it didn’t hurt any less. 

_“Lancito, let’s go. It’s a three-hours drive and we have to get there before noon.”_ Beatriz cooed, and waved at her kids in the house, getting in the car. 

He didn't remember much of the ride, only that his mother had told him to close his eyes and rest, and that he’d dreamt of home.

-

 _"I'll make plenty of friends and one day I'll have them come over to our home in Varadero, how does that sound?"_ he’d told his mother right before walking into the building. At the time, he’d ignored his mother’s pained expression as she nodded. But now, Lance knew. He’d said Varadero, he'd called it home… But it wasn’t his home anymore, was it? The face that Beatriz had made when he’d called that place _home_ was soulcrushing. Lance knew she blamed herself for what had happened, he knew she thought it was her fault that they had to move, her fault that her kids were unhappy. 

-

The Garrison was… Quite different from what he would call home. It was less crowded, strangely enough, and the rhythms were less frenetic. He didn’t manage to see Veronica as often as he thought he would have, since she was an officer and he was a simple cadet, not allowed to move around for the facilities on his own, not allowed to use electronic devices that weren’t his phone- no internet access allowed. It felt cramped, still.

Hunk used to be his roommate back then, and Lance remembered how easy it had been to become friends.

 _“Hunk,”_ he’d asked one day as he laid on his bunk, staring at the ceiling as he brushed it with his fingers, _“do you ever miss home?”_

The boy in the bottom bunk had hummed, and Lance had probably never heard such an heartbreaking sound. _“All the time. Life was easier in Savai’i…”_ the aspiring engineer had said, _“My family and friends are still there, and I’m stranded here. Well, not… Not stranded, since I chose to come to the Garrison, but you get what I mean. I just… I want to go back when I finish this. That’s my home, after all.”_

Lance’s heart clenched. If Hunk was going to leave too once he’d received his diploma, in about three years, then it meant that Lance too was going to have to find a new home. Because he couldn’t go back to his mother after leaving her alone. Because he couldn’t face Marco and Rachel after what he’d done. Because the Garrison was his home now, despite he’d been staying there for barely a year. He didn’t like to think about it that way, but it was true. He belonged there. And it hurt, but it was worth the sacrifice.

-

_"I know we're supposed to be brave Paladins and Defenders of the Universe or whatever, but honestly..? I just want to go home..."_

_"If I could go home, I would."_ Coran had exhaled, and Lance felt a pang of guilt striking his heart, crumpling it, shattering it into a million pieces when he realised that unlike the two Alteans there, Lance did have a home to go to after all. For some reason, it hurt even more.

To know that the place you need to go back to is there, but out of your reach- to know that life there kept thriving, that the people he knew kept living their lives, or maybe not, and he’d never know which one it was. He’d never know because he was far from home.

-

_"We're here, Lance."_

_"And we're not going anywhere."_

_"One day, you'll see your family again, I promise."_

_"Whatever happens, we'll stand by you."_

_“Yeah, we won't leave, don't worry."_

_"Until you get back to your family, you have us."_

-

_"This team could not exist without you, you're its heart. You're our heart, Lance. We love you, we all do."_

-

It took Lance a while to realise that home was where one’s heart was. And his was right there with his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe that we got Voltron trending on Tumblr in 5th position? In 2020? I'm so fucking happy, I literally teared up when I saw it, ooh my goooooooooooosh... And I know I said this already but HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LANCE, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!  
> 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN ❗ Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories if you want. Thank you so much.


	30. 《Fate》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ mentions of Allurance and Klance, major character death.

Lance had never believed in fate. 

He didn’t believe in those sappy stories about how something was clearly meant to be, he didn’t believe that everyone’s path had already been decided, he didn’t believe that destiny had its ways of putting someone on their right track. He didn’t believe that.

But the one thing he trusted in, was that only he could decide for himself and for his future, and that one wrong move could cost him his lifelong dream. He’d seen it happen enough times already, and he wasn’t willing to risk it in this delicate situation. So he’d studied and practiced, tried to ace all of his tests; he’d taken extra courses, talked to the mentors and more experienced pilots and-

When he’d seen ‘cargo pilot’ written in bold letters next to his name on the chart, his stomach had sank to an icy pit, knotting and twisting uncontrollably as his knees threatened to give out right under his weight. Because his dream, his future- it was gone, and it hadn’t been his fault. Just bad luck, just one single person better than him that was coincidentally there too. That wasn’t how he was planning on receiving the confirmation that fate didn’t _have its ways._

At that point of his life, he’d wished that he had been wrong. It would have been less cruel.

Cargo pilot. He was only a cargo pilot, first in his ranking, literally only one position away from being what he wanted- no- what he needed to be. The only way to be promoted to fighter class was if someone in the graduatory was expelled or dropped out on their own, but it was impossible. Only a fool would have had rejected the chance to become part of an élite group of specially-trained pilots. It had never happened before, and he knew that it wasn’t certainly going to happen to him, now.

-

He’d been wrong.

Lance found out that it wasn’t impossible, after all, and that one certain fool had decided to drop out. And for that, he was beyond grateful. Maybe fate did have its ways, maybe he owed Hunk an apology for saying that it was just a bunch of lies, and maybe not being promoted immediately had been an important step to receive this honour later on. He didn’t know, and didn’t question his luck much. 

For the first time ever, Lance didn’t despise the idea of fate.

-

When he’d delicately brushed his fingertips on the cave’s wall, he’d been blinded by a teal light, and he’d heard Keith muttering something about how the mysterious carvings in the rocks had never done that before. And when Lance had knocked on Blue’s particle barrier, the same exact thing happened. His chest had been suddenly filled with a renewed warmth, a sense of… sense. Lance felt like it all made sense, like _he_ made sense. He vaguely remembered his skin crawling and buzzing, a new sensation of finally having a meaning in life spreading across his chest. 

Maybe fate wasn’t a complete lie.

-

Becoming part of Voltron had been the most glorious thing that had ever happened in his life, Lance had no doubt on this. He’d met his hero and worked alongside him, he’d made plenty of close friends- some new, some old- and seen places that literally no other human had ever seen before. Fighting a war at eighteen years old wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his life, to be completely honest, but to protect the innocents Lance was more than willing to sacrifice his life and risk his incolumity on daily basis- maybe it was what fate had planned for him, maybe he was always meant to be a Paladin of Voltron.

Who was he to question fate's ways?

-

Lance never knew that he would have found love. He didn’t think that it would have ever happened, and not the way it did, surely enough. He’d always taken pride in being an absolute flirt, but since he’d joined Voltron, he’d failed. Twice. Keith had never given the impression to be interested in him, not the way Lance had hoped for. Allura had never seemed to appreciate the flirting, so Lance had stopped- the thought of making people uncomfortable had always haunted him, and when he’d had the confirmation that the Princess wasn’t completely at ease around him because of his jokes, he’d stopped.

And Lance had simply given up, and told himself to wait, that he only had to wait, and eventually he was going to find someone.

Maybe, he thought, fate had other plans for him, now.

-

As he watched Allura vanish into thin air, enveloped by a rosy glow, all Lance could do was tremble with rage, fists tight, boiling tears stubbornly refusing to spill from his ocean eyes because _no,_ he wasn’t going to give fate the sheer satisfaction of winning. Lance wasn’t going to let it happen. Allura- he though- she wasn’t gone forever, just… Missing, lost somewhere in the abyss of the multi universes, and he was going to take her back, he was going to-

 _“T_ _his is the only chance to save all of the existence…”_ she’d said.

Torn between the desire to see her again, to tell her how sorry he was, how stupid he’d been to let her go like that, and the awareness that bringing her back, if that was even a possibility, meant to doom every existing cosmos- Lance had given up on himself. 

Because a war against fate was lost even before the beginning.

-

His friends didn’t let him sulk until the end of his days. After a year after Allura’s death, they’d dragged him away from that farm, they’d made him join them in simple missions and diplomatic meetings, they’d shown him how much the world had changed, how much the universe had changed thanks to the Princess’s sacrifice. And he’d hated it, at first.

He couldn’t stand that Allura had been the one to pay for someone else’s mistakes, for someone else’s nonsensical conflits. 

But Lance had slowly started to understand that, since a war against fate was impossible to win, the only thing he could have done to keep living and letting fate lead him where it wanted was to follow the flow. If his friends had decided that it was high time he faced the reality, then- he thought- it was meant to be.

-

“Papa, are you alright?” Jericho asked, sitting at Lance’s bedside, holding his hand firmly, “Papa?” 

Lance coughed weakly and raised his blind eyes, focus somewhere unidentified behind his son’s head. He raised the wrinkled hand that Jericho was holding, and placed it on the man’s face, feeling the stubble, the sharp jaw reminded it of his late husband’s, Keith. Lance felt the warm tears on his son’s cheeks, and flashed a tired, yet convinced smile.

“Mijo, listen to me,” he croacked out, “everything will b-be okay. Papa’s goin’ to see Dad again… And we’ll look out f-for you, and for your family.” he wheezed, out of breath already. Jericho’s lips quivered and he bowed his head, sniffling.

“Pl-please, papa, don’t leave me…”

“I d-don’t want to, either, but… My life’s coming to an end, mi amor, and it’s okay… Papa did ev-everything he had to… I f-fought, and l-loved, and had the mo-most wonderful ch-child ever… I’m h-happy, mijo. I’m v-very happy, Jericho.”

“Papa…” the man sobbed. Lance placed a hand on his son’s chocolate hair, and caressed the mane gently, hand shaking. Life hadn’t always been kind to Lance, but if fate had decided that it was meant to be, then all he could do was comply.

"I love you, mi amor."

"I l-love you too, Papa..."

Fate had chosen, and a war against it could not be won. With that thought, and the awareness that he was never going to be alone, he let go.

Fate had its ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When it's bad mental health day but you're behind schedule so you gotta write anyway... I feel like I repeated the same stuff over and over- sorry.  
> -  
> ❗ DON'T READ AND RUN❗  
> Leave kudos and comments if you like my work, please, and check out my profile for more VLD stories, if you want. Thank you so much.


	31. 《Free day》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ none.  
> (PLEASE READ THE END NOTES.)

Just a boy from Cuba, ripped from his mother’s breasts too soon.

Just a boy from Cuba, thrown into a war at the early age of seventeen. 

Just a boy from Cuba, a laser gun in his hands, grip on the trigger shaky as he pulled it.

Just a boy from Cuba, hunched over the toilet as watery guilt spilled from his lips.

Just a boy from Cuba, tears in his ocean eyes when he cried himself to sleep.

Just a boy from Cuba, surrounded by enemies as they aimed.

Just a boy from Cuba, surrounded by his friends, too.

“You’re not alone anymore.”

Not good enough to be a leader.

Not good enough to be a fighter.

Not good enough to be a diplomat.

Not good enough to be a mechanic.

Not good enough to be an engineer.

Not good enough to be an inventor.

Not good enough. A seventh wheel.

“You are good enough, and more than that. You’re special.” 

He was not worth listening to.

He was not worth talking to.

He was not worth keeping.

He was not worth teaching to.

He was not worth caring for.

He was not worth loving.

He was not worth existing.

“But you are. You are worthy of everything good.”

Someone’s son.

Someone’s brother.

Someone’s student.

Someone’s protégé.

Someone’s friend.

Someone’s lover.

Someone’s enemy.

“You’re Lance. You’re Lance, the one and only.”

Lance was a paladin.

Lance was a warrior.

Lance was a sharpshooter.

Lance was a guardian.

Lance was a peacekeeper.

Lance was a good man.

Lance was Lance.

“And that’s why we need you.”

"And that's why we care about you."

"And that's why we admire you."

"And that's why we will fight for you."

"And that's why we won't leave you."

"And that's why we listen to you."

"And that's why we love you."

_**fin.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to do something I'd never done before with ch31... And with this, I have officially finished JuLance 2020.  
> Wow. I had so much fun! I want to thank you all for reading and commenting, your support's heartwarming and, honestly, your kind words are what pushes me to keep writing.  
> I'm planning on posting the last chapter of "the price of peace" before next week ends, and I will also start working on Klance Week and Klance Month soon. After that, I have enough WIPs and ideas to be writing VLD stories until 2022. Despite the pointless ship wars, the community that peaceful fans have formed is reassuring, it really feels like home.  
> Feel free to check out my other stories (I put them all in the same collection.) and share them with your VLD-loving friends, if you want. Don't forget to follow [my tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/theforgottendaydreamer) for sneak peeks, memes, edits and rants- I reply to all inboxes quickly, too, so if you have questions about my fics, or headcanons, or just want to say something, I'll be there. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart! Until next time~🌟


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